Sour Revenge (7)
by A.I.T. - Author In Training
Summary: Kerk has returned. He wants his revenge, and to do it he has kidnapped Anna and Jade. Now, Sydney, Joe, and Skyler must venture to After Time to get them back. But After Time is place of self-destruction, where its prisoners are subjected to mental ruin. Secrets are revealed and trusts are questioned as the rescuers are put on edge.
1. Screams

**1\. Screams**

I nearly collapsed in a fit of coughs. The air was filled with blood-colored smoke. I tried to wave it away so I could see, but my hand only disappeared in the thick fog.

_It's time to wake up, Joseph._

"What?" I spun around, but I saw nothing in the smoke.

_You have a destiny to fulfill._

"Who's there?" Another round of coughs came over me. "Hello?"

I took a tentative step forward. The fog was too much. I wouldn't even be able to tell if there was a crater in front of me.

_Keep going._

I wasn't sure how trustworthy this mysterious voice was, but I had no other option given my current situation. Cautiously, my feet inched forward.

I ended up walking for what felt like hours. My body ached and it was getting harder and harder to breathe. When it felt like I couldn't make it anymore, the voice spoke again.

_This is your future if you do not realize your true potential._

The deep-red smog slowly dissipated all around me.

I wish it hadn't.

The ground was barren and lifeless. A black cloud covered the sky and the sun. The only light came from the fires. The fires that were burning the bodies.

I faltered backwards. The voice had led me to a cliff looking out over this tragedy.

The bodies of departed people were strewn across the ground. They were dressed in clothes you'd see somebody wear on any given day.

_They were innocent. Only guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time._

"Who are you? Why are you showing me this?" My eyes scanned the area around me, but I saw no one.

_Who I am is not yet important._

I turned back to the scene in front of me. Off in the distance I saw a broad structure with great towers shooting off into the ominous cloud that hung over everything. It appeared to be the only thing left standing.

"What is this place?"

_Your future._

"My what? How did this happen?" I tried to backpedal away from the scene, but an invisible wall had me trapped in my spot. I could do nothing but stare at the carnage.

_This is the future if you stay on your current path. But you are coming to a crossroads young Joseph. Choose wisely, and this can all be avoided._

"A crossroads? What are you talking about? What does all this mean?"

_It's time to wake up, Joseph. You have a destiny to fulfill._

* * *

My eyes snapped open and I straight shot up. I was drenched in sweat. My chest rose and fell as my panicked breaths fell over my lips. Sydney lifted her head and looked up at me through half open eyes.

"Joe? What is it? Did something happen?" She squinted around the room, looking for anything out of place.

"It's nothing. Just a weird dream. I'm sorry for waking you. Go back to bed."

"Are you sure you're okay?" She looked at me with concern.

"I'll be fine. Go to sleep."

She quickly closed her eyes, rolled over, and went back to sleep. I watched her gentle breaths and tried to calm my own.

"It was just a dream, Joe. It meant nothing," I spoke softly to myself.

And yet, why did that feel like a lie?

I looked down at Sydney and gently stroked her hair, an old habit of mine. She never woke when I did it, and it was always comforting for me. I sighed and kept telling myself it was just a dream.

Once I had gotten my pulse back down to a reasonable rate, I decided to try to go back to sleep. I just hoped I wouldn't have any more foreboding dreams.

And I was right. _I_ didn't have any more foreboding dreams.

Sydney sat bolt upright, screaming.

I looked at her to identify what was wrong. She was doubled over, clutching her head. The scar on the right side of her face was glowing bright green. She screamed again and squeezed her eyes shut. Her teeth were clenched and her whole face was strained in agony.

I wrapped my arms around her. Nightmares used to be a normal occurrence for her, but the longer she was away from Draylon, the less frequent they became. But even I could see that this was something else.

I held her tight. "It's okay, Sydney. Just breathe. It's not real."

She started spasming in my arms. I held on tighter. "I got you. I'm not letting go, ever."

I felt her go limp and the shining light emanating from her scar faded away.

"Sydney?" I got no response. "Sydney!" I shook her, trying to get a response. I heard a faint murmur escape her lips.

"What?" I leaned in closer.

"J-Jade… Anna…" I barely understood her.

"Jade and Anna? What about Jade and Anna?" I tried to ask her.

But she had passed out in my arms. I was torn between staying with her and checking on Jade. She wouldn't have said her name for nothing, right?

I studied Sydney and resolved that there was nothing that I could do for her now. I carefully set her down in our bed. She remained unmoving, not a good sign.

I rapidly dashed down the hall into Jade's room. I burst through the door.

Her bed was empty. I felt my heart break. "Jade?" I searched around the room, hoping she was just playing hide and seek. There was no sign of her. I almost collapsed in grief, but I remembered Sydney had also mentioned Anna.

"Anna…" I ran back into the master bedroom. Sydney was still unconscious on the bed. I cringed. She'll wake up. She has to.

I snatched my phone and called Anna. The phone rang and rang. No response. I tried again. Still no response.

And then I did something I'd never thought I'd do. I called Skyler.

He answered on the third ring. "Hello?" His voice was groggy. He had probably been sleeping. Lucky him.

"Is Anna there?"

I heard him sigh. "Joe, you need to accept that Anna and I are getting married. Yes, we live together."

"That's not what I meant. Is Anna there? Now?"

"She's probably in the bathroom or something."

"Check."

"Check? Joe, Anna is-"

"Jade's gone."

He was silent. "What?"

"I don't know what happened. Sydney was screaming, her scar was glowing this weird green colour, she said Jade and Anna's names, and then passed out." I was panicking now. "She's still not awake and Jade is gone. I'll ask you one more time. Is Anna there?"

I heard rustling, presumably him getting up.

"I- I can't find her. Oh god. Joe, what do you think-" He sounded as distressed as I felt.

"I don't know. Look, I think you need to get over here as soon as possible. We need to figure this out. Hopefully, Sydney wakes up soon." I sat down on the bed. I stared at Sydney. I wanted to help her so badly. I reached out to touch her and stroke her cheek. Her skin was cold. My heart stopped. This was not happening.

"I'll be there in ten minutes."

* * *

**A/N - How's that for a first chapter? I am so excited to finally be posting this. It has been sitting on my computer for years. It's a little fast-paced, but most of the chapters will be pretty long, unlike this first one. I plan on making this a story one that I'll be proud of. So I want to see all your thoughts on this. Don't be afraid to critique a little!**

**If you enjoyed, a review and a comment would be very much appreciated! Follow me for more! Thanks for reading!**


	2. After Time

**2\. After Time**

I slowly ran my hand through Sydney's hair, waiting for her to wake up. She had a pulse. That had to be good, right?

What was happening? I took a deep breath and cleared my thoughts. I just had to think this through. Sydney was screaming and her scar was glowing green. The scar she had gotten from her brother almost eight years ago. Kerk, could he have something to do with this? No one had seen him since Sydney's epic fight with him.

Before I could think much more, the doorbell rang. Skyler must be here. Before I could even answer the door. He ran into the house.

"Sorry. I should have waited, but with what's going on I don't want to waste any time. Where's Syd?" He was panting and his eyes were wide. He was clearly freaking out as much as I was.

"She passed out after the… whatever it was. I can't get her to wake up."

"Joe?"

I spun on my heel and saw Sydney leaning in the doorway. I just barely managed to catch her before she collapsed. Her skin was still cold and she was so pale. I could feel her trembling in my arms as she leaned into me for support.

"What happened?" She groaned. "Sky? Why are you here? Ah!" She clutched her forehead and would have dropped to the floor if I wasn't holding on to her.

I quickly carried her to the sofa and set her down. "We were hoping you could tell us." I examined her scar. It had stopped glowing, but when I touched it, it burned my fingers. I hissed in pain.

"What?" She blinked at me. She was still out of it and I had to keep her from falling over. "What are you talking about?"

"You woke up screaming and the scar from your brother was glowing. Right before you passed out, you said Jade and Anna's names."

"And now they're missing." Skyler joined us on the sofa. "Do you remember any of this?"

"I-" Her face scrunched up in agony and she clenched her teeth. "I was hoping it was just a nightmare."

My fingers slipped through her hair in an attempt to sooth her suffering. Seeing her like this gave me a nasty feeling in my chest. I wanted to help her heal and let her take her time, but I knew we didn't have time to waste. "Is there anything you can tell us?"

She took in a shaky breath. "He took them to After Time."

"Who? What time?" I was lost.

Skyler was not apparently. "After Time? They can't survive there! We have to rescue them!" He jumped up.

"I am very well aware of what After Time is, Sky. Of course we're going to rescue them." Sydney rubbed her scar and winced.

"What's After Time?" They looked at me like I had grown a second head. "Sorry, not all of us grew up at a magical time traveler's school."

"We don't have time to explain it all now. But After Time is prison, a very dangerous prison. It was," Sydney winced again, "is my brother's domain."

"Kerk? Are you saying..?"

She looked up at me, fear and sadness on her face. "Kerk's back. And he wants his revenge."

* * *

"Have you found it yet?"

I shuffled through yet another box. "Not yet."

It had to be here somewhere. That stupid thing was never around when you needed it. Yet whenever you were happily hanging out in your present time period, it decided to show up and take you back to ancient China, Greece, or even Egypt. It had a mind of its own.

"Found it!" I glanced behind me and saw Sydney triumphantly holding up _The Book_. "I think we hid it a little too well."

We had decided to hide _The Book_ once Jade was born. We kept it in a pile of boxes in our small storage room on the third floor in Sydney and Skyler's dance studio. We didn't want Jade stumbling upon it and warping her little four-year-old self back to who knows when. She had this strange fascination with books and we knew the moment she saw it, she'd grab it so that someone could read it to her.

Sydney was already flipping through the pages. "Come on. There has to be something in here."

I took it out of her hands before she accidentally ripped a page out of it and eliminated a hundred years of history. "Let me. It's called After Time, right?"

"Yes. _The Book_ has to be able to take us there." She nervously started to scratch at her wrists, an old habit of hers.

I grabbed her hand before it got worse and she made herself bleed. "Stop it. It's okay. We'll have Jade and Anna back before you know it."

She smiled, but I could see that it was forced. She wasn't handling this well. Her scar was obviously still hurting her, but she was going through great lengths not to show it.

"You need to calm down. All this stress is not good for the baby." I calmly reminded her that she was three months pregnant and placed my hand on her stomach. "Why don't we all go sit down and look through _The Book_ to see if we can find anything?"

Sydney's shoulders drooped. "Fine."

* * *

"Did you try opening and closing it?" Skyler suggested.

"It's not a computer. You can't just reset it." Sydney sighed and leaned back in her chair.

"Maybe _The Book_ can't take us there." I didn't think this thing had any limits, but maybe it did.

"Yes, it can. The only ways to get to After Time are by having a time god warp you or through _The Book_. It's just being difficult." Sydney slid it over in front of her. "Come on you stupid thing. I want my daughter back."

"Yelling at it won't help."

"Well it's _your_ book. Get it to work!" Sydney pushed it back over to me.

"You know I never could figure it out. No matter how hard I tried. It never worked for me." I heaved a heavy sigh. "Anna could always get it to work."

"Anna is why we need to get this thing to work. We can't leave them in After Time. The longer they're there, the worse it will get," Skyler said.

I looked back and forth between Sydney and Skyler. "What exactly is this place?"

Sydney bit her lip. "It's the end of the world."

"What?" I sat back.

Sydney sighed. "Everyone knows the world is supposed to end at some time, right? Whether it's the sun exploding, a nuclear apocalypse, or some other crazy thing, it has to end at some point. After Time is the moment right after the world has ended. Time is frozen there and it can be a highly dangerous place even for gods."

"What?" I repeated. I was having trouble taking this all in. "What happened to the world? When will this all happen?"

Sydney gave me a sad smile. "It's one of those top secret things I'm not allowed to talk about, partly because I don't know. I've only ever been a few times and I was never given much history on the place, just taught how to protect myself in it."

"Oh." I looked down. "What exactly are Anna and Jade facing right now?"

"Kerk probably has them locked away somewhere in the main prison area. I doubt he wants them harmed before we get there."

"You think he's expecting us?"

"Of course he is. He only took Anna and Jade as bait, but I'm sure he'll kill all of us if given the opportunity."

"Hey! Look!" Skyler held up _The Book_ for us to see. The page he had open was blank. I peered closer and saw that it had faint green text and images slowly fading in. "It started doing it when you started talking about After Time. Try saying more stuff!"

"Um," Sydney paused, clearly not expecting this turn of events, "well, like I said, time is frozen there. Which is why it's dangerous for even gods to go. There isn't enough time energy to keep them alive and they'd be practically powerless. Kerk was the only one who ever seemed to be fine there. Fitting, given his dark heart and how dark of a place it is. That's how he became god of After Time. He was basically our prison warden."

"It's working!" Skyler grinned as _The Book_'s page slowly filled up more and more. It had even started glowing that familiar green. "Keep going. Just a little more should do it."

Sydney stopped to think of more things to say. "After Time is where they send anyone who becomes exiled. It's the only place suitable enough for the demented crimes they commit. While the whole landscape is technically the prison, there is a large building filled with cells where people could be locked up if need be, but there's never really been a reason to. It's located in the far east of After Time. That's probably where Kerk is keeping them hostage."

She paused to study _The Book_ to see how far along it was. The page had filled in and I could see facts and pictures of what I assumed was After Time. We had been surrounded by the bright green mist and I could feel it getting ready to pull us in.

"And though _The Book_ can take us there. It won't be able to bring us home."

"What?!" And that was the last thing I said before I was sent away to prison by a magical green mist.

* * *

Kerk shoved me into the cell and locked the door. I immediately ran up to the bars and tried to push them open with no luck.

"You won't get away with this," I growled. I knew in my gut that Joe, Sydney, and Skyler were already on their way to rescue me. I'd be out of here in no time.

Kerk sneered down at me. "We'll see about that, now won't we?" Without saying another word, he turned around and walked off. I watched him disappear into the darkness with a glare on my face.

"Aunty Anna?" A frightened voice spoke up from behind me.

I froze. Oh no. He didn't take her too. Did he? I slowly turned around. "Jade." I ran up to her and hugged her. Poor thing, she was probably terrified. I held her close.

I might be able to handle living in a cell like a hostage for a few days, but Jade definitely wouldn't. She would want her mom and dad and need to be taken care of. Who knew how long it would take Sydney and Joe to get here and get us out.

"Aunty Anna, I'm scared. Where are we? Where's mommy and daddy?" I looked into her wide, terrified eyes. She was nervously staring around the dimly lit cell.

"I don't know Jade, but we'll be okay. I promise. You're mommy and daddy will be here to rescue you before you know it." I soothingly caressed her hair.

"I miss them." Tears began to well up in her eyes.

"I'm sure they miss you too. They're on their way here right now to get you back though. You'll be back with your family soon enough, don't you worry."

"What about them?" She pointed to a dark figure in the corner of the cell. They were curled up and hidden out of the light's reach. I had no idea who it was or why Kerk would take someone else. It was probably one of his followers here to watch us and keep us in line.

I shuddered and pulled Jade away. We sat down together on the opposite side of the cell as the dark figure.

She curled up next to me. I sensed her shaking and heard an occasional sniffle. I hugged her again. She was so small and helpless. Why would Kerk take her? Was he really that cruel?

Even as I asked the question, I already knew the answer: to get Sydney and Joe to come here and be prisoners too. We were just the bait. It was all part of his sick plan for revenge.

* * *

**A/N - Unfortunately, this will probably be the only chapter I upload this weekend. Sorry, but I've got Valentine's day plans. Anyway, sorry this chapter was more info-filled than action-filled, but I needed to get some info about After Time out there. You'll learn more about it in the next chapter. **

**If you liked it, a review and a favourite would be very much loved! If you didn't like it, tell me why. Don't be afraid to critique it in your review (after all, that's what it's there for). I want to hear ALL your thoughts on this story, so share them all! Thanks for reading!**


	3. East Bound and Down

**3\. East Bound and Down**

"_The_ _Book_ can't take us home?' I stared at _The Book _in my hands. It had miraculously stayed with me. "You couldn't have said that part first?" I looked at Sydney incredulously.

Sydney was too busy vomiting to notice.

"Oh geez." I ran over to her and rubbed her back. I made sure her hair was held back. "Are you okay?"

She nodded numbly and rubbed her scar. "Just a little warp sick."

"That's never happened before."

"It's because she's pregnant." I looked back at Skyler who was dusting himself off. "It's the first rule of warping: never warp when you're sick. That includes pregnancy. The after effects of her vision probably aren't helping either."

"I couldn't not come. I have to get Jade back." Sydney wrapped her arms around herself.

Skyler rolled his eyes. "No one's saying you shouldn't have come. But you know it wasn't the smartest idea."

Sydney closed her eyes and massaged her stomach. "I'll be fine."

I soothingly rubbed the small of her back and studied her to make sure she wasn't going to pass out again.

Sydney stared at the sky with a hard look in her eyes. "We should get moving. The longer we're here, the worse it will get."

"The worse what will get?"

"Your mental destruction."

* * *

I examined my surroundings for the first time since our arrival. This place was a total wasteland. I wasn't sure I wanted to know what happened to the world to turn it into this. Red sand extended out as far as the eye could see. I didn't see any sign of life anywhere. Not that there was much sunlight or water to grow anything. The sky was almost completely covered with a black cloud. Wherever the sky did peek through, all I saw was an ominous blood-red colour. Rocks and boulders littered the ground and the whole time I felt like someone was watching us. I shuddered at the thought. I couldn't imagine what it must be like to be a prisoner here. We'd only been here a few hours and I could already feel this place getting to me.

"So why haven't we run into any prisoners?" I regarded Sydney and Skyler. They were the only ones with any knowledge of this place within our little group.

"There's not that many prisoners here. Crimes worth exile happen very rarely. The ones that are here are most likely scattered around the world. I highly doubt we'll see any of them near the main prison. I'm sure they try to avoid it as much as possible." Sydney stopped and gazed around the area. "This will have to do."

"Do for what?"

"A place to sleep for the night." Sydney plopped down next to a large boulder. "I'm exhausted and my feet are tired. None of us exactly got much sleep tonight."

"Night?" I looked up at the sky. The sun was resting just above the horizon. Its rays illuminated the land in an eerie red glow. Ordinarily, sunsets would be beautiful, but this one just added to overall haunted feeling of this purgatory.

"Time is frozen here, remember? The sun won't move." Skyler sat down next to Sydney. "But we probably shouldn't sleep long. We have to get to Anna and Jade as soon as possible."

"We won't be able to help them if we're too tired to move. Of course, we may not even get much sleep here." Sydney closed her eyes and rested against the rock.

"Because of…?" I was still lost.

"The nightmares."

"Nightmares?"

"Mhmm." Sydney stretched out her arms above her head. "After Time is designed to torture its captives. Here, your mind is completely exposed for others to invade if they had access to a magic-enhanced dream catcher. But other people invading your psyche is the least of your worries."

"Then what _should_ I be worried about?" I sat down next to her. She immediately laid down and curled up next to me, resting her head on my lap.

"Yourself."

And that was apparently the end of the discussion. Sydney quickly fell asleep in my lap and Skyler was laying down a few feet away.

I sighed. Great. Can't wait to find out what that means.

* * *

Skyler's eyes slowly blinked open. He stumbled to gain his balance.

"What the…" He looked around at his surroundings. The ground he was standing on was flat and stark white. It went on as far as the eye could see, not a rock or hill in sight. A large shadow loomed over him and extended a few feet in front of him.

He turned over his shoulder and stumbled backwards. Behind him stood a towering wall. It extended far into the gloomy sky and stretched out miles in either direction. Skyler couldn't see the end of it.

He cautiously attempted to walk away from the wall and out from under its shadow. With every step he took the shadow extended three feet beyond him. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't get away from it.

"Try all you want, you'll never be able to step into the light."

Skyler jumped and spun around to identify the speaker. Someone was leaning against the wall several feet behind him. "Who are you?"

"Who does it look like?" The figure stepped forward, allowing Skyler to see their face. "I'm you."

The person walked up to Skyler and sure enough, it was like looking in a mirror.

Skyler tried to backtrack away, but the other him kept advancing. "Why are you running? I'm not going to hurt you."

Skyler's old training kicked in and he assumed a defensive position with his arms raised. "Why should I believe you?"

"Because I am you. If you can't trust yourself, who can you trust?"

Skyler had to admit he had a point. He lowered his arms, but his body still held tension in case he needed to spring into action at a moment's notice.

"What do you want?"

"The same thing as you. To get away from the shadow."

Skyler's face reflected his confusion. "The shadow?"

"You'll never get out, you know. You're not good enough."

"Not good enough?"

The clone Skyler nodded. "You know, compared to so many others, you're just so… _average_. Why should you get to see the light?"

"But I don't want to live in the shadows." Skyler tried to take another step out of the shadow, but it kept moving in front of him.

"Too bad. You're just not fit enough to step into the light. It's a miracle a girl like Anna liked you, let alone agreed to marry you. How do you plan to hold onto that bounty?"

Skyler clenched his fists. "Anna loves me."

"But why? She could do so much better and you know it too."

"She-" Skyler faltered. "She loves me because I' m me. She doesn't want to be with anyone else."

"Sure about that? That's some big talk for someone like you." The other Skyler leaned in close. "Don't try to fight your fears. They'll only come back stronger."

* * *

**A/N- Sorry for this late chapter. I've been busy. I'm also sorry that it's a little slow and short. But now you've learned a little more about After Time and what it does to its prisoners.**

**If you enjoyed, a review and a favourite would be very much loved! Thanks for reading!**


	4. Inner Demons

**4\. Inner Demons**

Sydney woke to see Skyler staring blankly at the ground. "Sky?" She sat up and did a big stretch.

Skyler jumped. "What?"

"Are you okay? You look-"

"I'm fine." He forced a smile.

Sydney squinted at him. "Sky, you know you can talk to me about anything. Did you have a nightmare last night?"

Skyler shook his head. "No. I'm just worried about Anna is all. We should get moving as soon as possible."

Sydney studied Skyler. He had an expression on her face that she couldn't read. "Whatever it is that you're not telling me, it's okay. Everything will be fine."

"It's nothing, really." Skyler again forced out a grin. "I'm just anxious to get moving."

Sydney gave Skyler a sympathetic look. "Okay."

Joe shifted next to Sydney as he slowly woke up. He noticed Sydney sitting up already. "You're up early." He straightened up quickly. "You didn't have any nightmares, did you?" He had concern written all over his face. He knew first-hand how bad her nightmares could get. He didn't want to imagine how bad they could get in a place like this.

Sydney shook her head. "Surprisingly, no. What about you?"

"None. Is that a good sign?" Joe looked hopeful.

Sydney had a half-smile on her face. "Not necessarily. That doesn't mean it won't happen eventually"

"Oh." Joe saw Skyler watching them from a few feet away. "Did you have any nightmares?"

"Nope. Guess we all just got lucky, huh?"

"Odd how we've never been this lucky before." Sydney continued to study Skyler.

"Well, let's not jinx it. Come on, we should get moving. We don't want to keep Anna and Jade waiting." Skyler stood up. His energy showed that he had been up for a while.

Joe rose and helped Sydney to stand. She swayed on her feet. Joe gripped her arms. "Are you okay? You're not still having symptoms from your vision are you?"

Sydney shook her head. "No. Just a little morning nausea." She patted her stomach.

Joe frowned. "You shouldn't have come. What if you miscarry?"

"Joe, I'm not going to miscarry, okay?" She softly kissed him. "Besides, there was no way I wasn't going to not come. The baby and I will be fine. I promise."

He still looked concerned. "Okay, it's not like I can send you home anyway." He pulled out _The Book_, completely useless to them now. "So what do we do?"

"Continue on. We need to find the main prison as soon as possible." Skyler started to walk east without looking back.

Sydney and Joe exchanged glances. "What's up with him?"

"He's been weird. I don't know what, but there's something he's not telling me." Sydney's mouth turned down. "It's not like him at all. We've never kept secrets from each other."

Joe wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "I'm sure he's just worried."

Sydney appeared unsure. "We'll see."

* * *

The trio dragged their feet through the dirt. They moved sluggishly, but each of them had a hard look in their eyes that said they weren't giving up anytime soon.

"Where is this place again?" Joe turned to Sydney.

"East. So as long as we keep walking in the opposite direction of the sun, we'll get there eventually." She trudged on.

"Eventually. That sounds hopeful." Joe sighed. "You sure you're doing okay? We can stop anytime you need to."

"No." Sydney folded her arms. "We can't afford any stops."

"You need to think about the baby here too. I want Jade and Anna back too, but we shouldn't risk its life if we can help it." Joe placed his hand on Sydney's shoulder.

"I know, but Jade needs us. She's four, Joe. She can't survive in this place." Sydney bit her lip and clutched her chest. "I can't leave my baby girl alone. I need to get to her."

"We will. Just don't push yourself. You know you wouldn't be able to live with yourself if something happened to the baby."

Sydney took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I'm just-"

"Stressing out. I know." Joe caressed her cheek. "We'll get Jade back. I promise."

Sydney smiled. She opened her mouth to respond, but her eyes locked onto something behind Joe. She stopped in her tracks.

"What? What is it?" Joe spun around to find what she was looking at.

"Why did you two stop? We need to keep going." Skyler was a few feet in front of them. He hadn't looked at them the entire walk. "What are you staring at?"

"You guys see that too, right? It's not just me?" Sydney stepped forward.

"Uh…" Skyler and Joe looked at each other. They didn't see anything.

"The air here is… different." She reached her hand out. "It's wav-"

_Crack!_

Sydney screamed and collapsed onto the ground.

"_Sydney_!" Joe dove for her. He could feel his heart slamming against his chest. "Oh god… Are you okay? Talk to me."

Sydney groaned. "I think so."

Joe tried to slow his breaths. "I don't know. Are you sure you're okay? You went airborne."

"I just want to know what happened." She looked around, dazed and confused.

"I happened."

Sydney's eyes hardened and locked onto the figure in front of them. "Kerk."

Joe had a split-second to grab Sydney before she leapt at Kerk. He struggled to hold her back.

Sydney glared at Kerk murderously. "You've got quite the nerve to show your face."

"Why? Because you'll let your inner demon out and kill me? You can't hurt me here. This is my kingdom." Kerk sneered. "No, no, little sister. You won't hurt me. You see, you're just a piece on my chessboard, and I've got you exactly where I want you."

Sydney tried to jerk out of Joe's hands, but he held on. "Sydney, he's right. You aren't exactly in any condition to fight."

Sydney's shoulders dropped, but she continued to glare at her brother. "So why are you here? I can't imagine it's just to make idle conversation."

"I just wanted to see how my prison was treating you. I do hope you're enjoying your stay. I'd hate for this to be an unpleasant experience for you."

"Well, you could use a new interior decorator. Ever thought about a plant or two?"

"Still have the sharp tongue I see." Kerk frowned. "Joke all you want, sister. I have all the power here. And I will make sure that by the end of this, that strong spirit of yours is permanently broken."

"Why are you doing this? Wouldn't it just be easier to kill us all and get it over with?" Joe was debating whether or not he should let Sydney go. Kerk deserved the beating she wanted to give him.

"Kill you? I have no desire to kill you."

"All because of some little fight? You're still alive, no matter how much I wish you weren't."

"Fight? You mean our small skirmish eight years ago? The reason I went into hiding? The reason I have this scar?" Kerk's voice gradually grew louder. He pointed to the scar on the right side of his. Identical to the one on Sydney's face. "We're practically twins now, aren't we?"

Sydney touched the scar on her face. "It didn't have to be that way."

"Oh but it did. Your fate was sealed the moment you were born. The moment you replaced me!"

Sydney furrowed her brow. "Replaced you? What do you mean?"

Kerk clenched his jaw. "If you'll excuse me, boys, my sister and I need to have a short chat." Kerk latched onto Sydney's wrist. He pulled her out of Joe's arms and in a flash of green, they were gone.

"No!" Joe fell to his knees. "Where did they go?"

Skyler's jaw dropped. "I don't know. Kerk could have taken them anywhere in After Time."

"We have to find her!"

"How? We have no idea where they went. You heard him, he doesn't plan on killing anyone. He'll bring Syd back when he's done with her… I hope." Skyler ran a hand through his hair.

"We can't just stand here!" Joe scanned the horizon. "He could be torturing her."

"Joe," Skyler placed a hand on his shoulder, "we have no choice. We're going to have to wait this out."

* * *

Sydney and Kerk landed on the edge of a cliff. Sydney immediately swung at Kerk with her fist.

He caught it with ease. "Not so fast, sister. I said I wanted to have a talk, and you're going to cooperate." He grabbed the collar of her shirt and forced her to lean backwards over the edge.

Sydney waved her arm to maintain her balance. "I thought you weren't going to kill me?"

"I'm not. This fall won't kill you, but it could break few bones or paralyze you." He tightened his grip. "Now, behave."

"What do you want from me?"

"I want you to have never existed. I was supposed to be the favourite, not you."

"What are you talking about?"

"You don't think you were mother's first choice, do you? It was supposed to be me! But no, I wasn't powerful enough. Not even good enough to be given a second chance. But then you came along and you were just oh so perfect. Mother's dream come true. Lucky you." Kerk pushed Sydney farther over the edge.

"Choice for what? You know I didn't want anything from her." Even dangling over a twenty-foot drop, she stared defiantly at Kerk and remained confident.

"That didn't matter, did it? She still choose you over me. Her perfect creation to fulfill all her dreams. Someone she could mold into the ultimate machine. Even when you gave it all up and left Draylon, she didn't come back for me. Leaving Draylon wasn't enough, you know. She's not done with you yet."

"Well, I'm done with her."

Kerk sneered. "We'll see about that."

"And what is the point of this conversation exactly?"

Kerk smirked and pulled Sydney in. "The point? You have ruined my life, made my existence unnecessary and worthless. So the point, little sister? The point is to tell you, that even though I may not kill you, I will make you wish you were dead."

* * *

A flash of green light brought Sydney back to Joe and Skyler.

"Sydney!" Joe ran up to her. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" He checked her up and down for any torture marks.

"No, he just wanted to intimidate me." She put on a smile. "I handled it. I'm fine."

"You were gone for hours. What happened?" Skyler stepped forward.

"Hours? It felt like a few minutes." Sydney looked at them.

"You've been gone all day. We were worried." Joe pulled her in close and held onto her.

"It's okay. He didn't hurt me." Sydney returned Joe's embrace. "But we should probably sleep for the night."

"Sleep? We barely got anywhere today." Skyler looked to the east. "We need to keep moving and get out of here as soon as possible."

"Sydney says to sleep, we sleep." Joe led her over to a place where they could lay down. "We've had plenty of action today."

Skyler sighed. "Fine."

* * *

Sydney stood frozen on the edge and watched the battle before her with unmoving eyes. The two sides raged on in a bloody match. One side was bathed in light and their armor was stark white. They fought against an army clad in all black with a dark shadow looming over them. There was clear division line down the middle, neither side gaining an advantage over the other.

"Beautiful isn't it?"

Sydney stiffened. "I don't want to deal with you."

"You have no choice." Another Sydney stepped up beside her. "How you have managed to stay sane this long is a miracle. I mean, look at this mess."

Sydney remained tense. "I said I don't want to deal with you."

"And I said you have no choice." The other Sydney crossed her arms. "Stop fighting yourself. Listen to your husband and relax for once in your life."

"If I say please, will you leave me alone then?"

"No."

"Of course not." Sydney sighed. "So this is what the dreams here are like? They make you face the worst part of yourself? Subjects you to the mental torture of being trapped by your fears?"

"Mhmm, but your no stranger to that are you? How are those Pluphoria nightmares by the way?"

Sydney winced. "I've been doing well, actually. The longer I'm away from that hellhole, the better I am."

"You'll be back, and you know it. That place hasn't lost its hold on you yet."

"I refuse to go back there."

"Jesus Christ, again with the fighting yourself. Stop it already. This is one fight you cannot win. Don't you ever grow tired of fighting?"

Sydney was silent.

"You do, don't you? I bet it'll feel good to stop. Just take a deep breath and let it all go."

"No." Sydney looked away from the gruesome scene in front of her.

The other Sydney frowned. "You're not going to heaven." She grabbed Sydney's chin and turned her face back towards the battle. "So why not raise a little hell?"

The dark side shifted forward.


	5. Crossroads

**5\. Crossroads**

"Sydney… _Sydney_!"

Sydney jerked awake and sat up. "What? What is it? Is Kerk back again?" She looked around. Skyler was asleep a few feet away and Joe was looking at her with concern. Kerk was nowhere in sight.

"No, but you were clutching my arm and you woke me up."

Sydney looked down at Joe's arm. There were fresh scratch marks running down it. Places where her nails had dug deep were bleeding.

"Joe, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you." She examined his arm with a look of fear on her face.

"Hey, it's okay." Joe turned her face to his. "It's just a few scratches."

"But you're bleeding."

"It will heal." Joe angled his head. "Are you okay? You were having a nightmare weren't you?"

Sydney looked away. "It's nothing. This place just has a way of getting to you I guess."

"It's clearly not nothing. Talk to me. What happened?" Joe wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close.

Sydney sighed and rested her head on his chest. "The nightmares here are designed to drive a person insane. After Time picks your mind, finds what you're most afraid of and shoves it in your face. No matter how hard you try to fight it, it won't back down. It changes you." She wrapped her arms around her knees.

"It won't change you."

"Joe-"

"_No_, listen to me." Joe held her face close. "You are too strong to let this place get to you. You are a woman with no fear. Where's that confident girl I fell in love with all those years ago? The one who fought back against all odds and never let anything get to her. The girl that would do anything to prove her strength. I know you've faced terrible things before. Whatever you saw in your dream can't be worse than any of that."

Sydney offered him a sad smile. "You don't know."

"I know that you can get through this." His arms encircled her waist and he leaned in to kiss her. Their mouths danced in the heat of passion. They pulled apart, their foreheads and noses still brushing against each other. "I'll be here every step of the way."

Sydney's hands gripped Joe's face and she drew him in for another lustful kiss.

"_Oh, great_. This is exactly what I wanted to wake up to. Thanks guys." Skyler was sitting up and staring at them in annoyance.

Sydney and Joe both softly laughed as they broke apart.

"When this is over, I think you and I are going to have some much needed alone time." Joe brushed Sydney's hair away from her face and gave her one final kiss.

"Come on. We should get moving for the day."

* * *

"How have we not gotten there yet? We've literally been walking for days!" Skyler whined.

"Really? You're constant complaining has made it seem like years," Sydney grumbled.

"At least I'm trying to get there. It doesn't help us any that your constantly needing to stop."

"Sorry, I'm _pregnant_." Sydney glared at him.

Skyler returned her glare. "Oh? I hadn't noticed."

"Stop it." Joe stepped in between them. "You two never fight. This place is putting us all on edge. Maybe we should stop to rest for the day."

Sydney and Skyler sighed and looked at each other apologetically.

Sydney wrapped her arms around herself. "He's right. We're all getting increasingly aggressive with each other. It's going to tear us apart if we don't stop to relax."

"I guess my feet are kind of sore from walking all day." Skyler tugged on his hair.

"So, it's settled then. We're done for the day." Joe grabbed Sydney's hand. "Hopefully you'll sleep better tonight."

She frowned. The scratches on Joe's arm had stopped bleeding, but they were still red as if they were fresh.

"It'll be okay." Joe gently kissed her forehead. "Remember, I'll always be by your side. I promise."

* * *

_You shouldn't make such bold promises, Joseph. Especially when you can't keep them._

A familiar feminine voice spoke in Joe's mind.

Joe sighed and tried to identify where the voice was coming from, which was hard given that he couldn't see anything except total blackness. "You again. I don't suppose you came with answers this time?"

_Not yet._

"What are you here for this time? Going to show me another horrific vision? Whoever, you are, I know Kerk is controlling you for… something." Joe had been thinking about his vision a lot while they were walking through After Time. The only reasonable explanation was that Kerk had gotten someone to invade his dreams to mess with him. He just wasn't sure what for.

_You couldn't be more wrong, my child. I'm merely here to warn you and help guide your decision by showing you the future._

Right, the last time the voice had talked to him, it had said something about Joe coming to a crossroads and making some choice. Joe had no idea what that meant. He assumed it was just something the voice was saying to throw him off.

"Warn me about what?"

_First, to stop making such promises._

"What promise?"

_The one to your wife. You cannot always be with her. You do not understand her struggle. Let her fight her own battles. Her path is one she must walk alone. She will reach her own destiny in time. Worry about your own destiny for now._

"Her struggle? If she's struggling, I will be there for her. I love her and that's not changing anytime soon." Joe's fists clenched.

_True, but once she lets go, the dark one will be the only one there for her._

Joe growled, "I will always be there for her."

_We'll see._

Joe couldn't see himself or anything else still, but he could hear the smile in the voice of this mysterious person as if it knew something he didn't.

_But I am not here to talk about your Romeo and Juliet romance. We have more important things to discuss, and we must hurry. Time is running out._

Romeo and Juliet romance? As far as Joe knew, there was nothing forbidden about his and Sydney's love. That was what Romeo and Juliet was about, right? Joe had never paid much attention to Shakespeare in English class back in school. Too many fancy words. Seriously, couldn't that guy just say something simply for once?

_Joseph, are you listening?_

Joe blinked himself out of his thoughts. "Huh?"

He heard the voice heave a heavy sigh.

_Perhaps I should just show you._

Joe was immediately blinded by a bright light. He groaned and rubbed his eyes, desperately trying to get them to adjust.

His vision slowly returned. He now stood in a small clearing that was surrounded by thick green fog. Tendrils of the fog reached out to touch him and swirled around his feet.

"Where am I?" Joe took in his new surroundings.

"Your crossroads."

Joe jumped. The secretive voice now had a face with it. Out of the fog came a tall woman. Her lengthy, wavy hair was as black as the night sky and her skin was a golden brown. She smiled at Joe and the gold aura surrounding her grew brighter. Her earthy brown eyes looked down on him with kindness. Her long maroon dress swayed as she walked forward, the tail end of it dragging on the ground behind her bare feet. She wore many pieces of colourful jewelry, including a strange-looking necklace with an eye-shaped pendant and a crown with a large circle in the center.

"My apologies. I do not usually wait so long to reveal myself to my children, but your case was special, young Joseph. My presence would have interfered greatly with your fate."

Joe had no words. The woman standing in front of him radiated immense power, but at the same time he felt a comforting warmth spread through him. She had a motherly appearance and a loving gaze. Joe had to fight the urge to rest in her arms and let her sing him to sleep like he had seen Jade do with Sydney all those times.

Joe felt his heart pang with hurt at the thought of Jade. He needed to rescue her soon. He wanted his little girl back.

"Shall I begin?" The woman gestured with her arm and the green fog surrounding them responded.

The mist swirled into three separate ovals. Images began to flash and flicker before Joe's eyes.

The first oval began with a faded image of Joe standing over a hospital bed with tears in his eyes, but the face of the person in the bed was blurred out. It quickly changed to a moving image of a burning village, and though there was no sound coming out of the picture, Joe could hear the sounds of people screaming. Again the image changed. Green mist cycloned around a pale child, but the child appeared to be completely calm and at ease. Joe caught a brief glimpse of blue eyes with a mystical green ring surrounding the iris. Joe didn't have time to process it before it faded to black and familiar scenes from his original vision started to show, a barren wasteland filled with fire and blood-coloured smoke. The dark movie reset itself and started again with the same picture of Joe sulking over a hospital bed.

The second oval began with flashes of green being shot back and forth. The shooters were just out of the pictures field of view. The image swirled into a new setting of total darkness, evil laughter flowed out and Joe quivered in fear. The scene shifted again and began to display black-filled eyes on a blood-splattered face. And just the like the first oval, this one ended with the same sights from his original vision. Joe looked away before the foreboding images could start over again.

The final oval displayed no images. And that scared Joe more than anything. Instead, the green mist continued to swirl, giving Joe no glimpses of whatever it was he had been looking at in the previous ovals.

"I think one of them is broken." Joe looked at the woman quizzically.

She offered him a soft smile. "These are the consequences of the decision you make."

"But you're here to tell me which one has no consequences, right?" Joe stared at each of the choices standing before him. A chill ran through him at the sight of his original vision being displayed at the end of the first two displays. He had been hoping there was a way to avoid that outcome.

"Every decision has its consequences. It's up to you to decide which one you can live with."

"And what would I be living with?"

"You will experience guilt and pain no matter what you choose, but the cause of those emotions is what changes." The woman paused to motion to the first oval. "This is what will happen if you continue on your current path. If you persist to deny who you are and suppress the potential within you, the world will fall to darkness. The second one shows what will happen if you embrace your destiny and explore your talent. The world will be saved."

"Then I choose that one," Joe spoke before the lady could finish.

She shook her head. "However, you will lose the thing you love most, and you will be the reason for it."

"Oh." Joe let out a shaky breath. He stared again at the three portals before him. "And the last one?"

The golden woman frowned. "That is a future that even I cannot see. I'm afraid I cannot help you there. But do not make any assumptions. I'm sure that its outcome is no better than the first two."

Joe sighed. "Of course it isn't."

The woman smiled and placed her hand on Joe's cheek. He felt the warmth within him grow more intense and he fought the desire to lean into her and just go to sleep forever. "Do not fret, my child. The future can be frightening, but it is only the potential for something more. Do not be afraid to step forward with confidence."

The woman waved her arm and the visions vanished. The green fog around them began to fade. "I must go now. It is time for you to wake up. I suspect someone is waiting for you and that you are needed at once."

She began to leave, but Joe asked for her to wait.

"Yes?" She turned to look at him over her shoulder.

"You never told me who you were." Joe could feel the dream ending and the world of consciousness was calling him back, but he had to find out who this woman was.

"I'm surprised you've yet to figure it out, my child." She put on a knowing smile. "I am Isis. Patron goddess of the Warp Wizards."

* * *

**A/N - So that was a pretty important chapter. I can't wait to hear what you think of it. ;) Please, give me some lengthy reviews of all your thoughts on this! I am very excited to get the next chapter up soon because you're going to learn something I've been holding in for a very long time now.**

**If you enjoyed a favourite and review would be very much loved! Thanks for reading!**


	6. Mixing It Up

**6\. Mixing it Up**

"Nice of you to finally join us." Skyler scowled at Joe, who was slowly waking up.

Joe was about to ask what the issue was, but he heard it before he saw it.

"Yes, I'm glad to see you're awake. I hope you slept well. You didn't have any nightmares did you?" Kerk spoke with a sinister sneer on his face.

Joe glared at him. "What are you doing here?" He tried to move protectively in front of Sydney so he wouldn't take her again, but found that his hands and feet were bound together by a thick green line of magic.

Sydney and Skyler were in similar situations, both unable to move.

"I just wanted to give you guys a little wake-up call, check to see how everything is going, and oh yes, help move things along a little quicker. You see, you're going a little too slow for my tastes, and I'm getting very impatient with you." Kerk loomed over them. His eyes flicked back and forth, studying their faces as if he was about to perform an experiment on them.

"How did he do this to us?" Joe tried to break free of his binds, but to no avail.

"You'd be surprised how deep of a sleep you can get when the nightmares have a hold on you." Kerk sneered.

Sydney studied Joe with a concerned look. "Joe, what were you dreaming about?"

Joe held back. He wasn't sure how much he should tell her. He had the feeling that what Isis had shown him was only meant for him to see. He hated the thought of lying to Sydney and keeping things from her, but if it kept her safe… She didn't need anything more to worry about anyway.

"Just fear induced images of losing you and Jade. I'm not worried though. I'll always be there for you, remember?" He forced a smile.

_You shouldn't make such bold promises, Joseph. Especially when you can't keep them._

Isis' words echoed in his mind like foreboding message. Joe cleared his head. He was determined to always be there for Sydney, no matter what anyone said.

Sydney's expression told him that she didn't believe him. "Are you sure? You were mumbling some pretty weird things. I swore I heard you say something about-"

"We don't have time for this idle chit chat!" Kerk thundered. "I said I was here to speed things along and that's what I intend to do. This game is progressing far too slowly."

The trio rolled his eyes at him. "Then get to it already."

Kerk glowered at them. "Do not forget who is in control here." His eyes began to glow green and the magic binding them all grew tighter, causing them to cringe in pain.

Kerk's smile was even more intimidating than his sneer. "Perfect. Now I'm sure you're all very worried about your precious little family, and you should be."

Sydney glared at Kerk. "What have you done to Jade and Anna?"

Kerk smirked at her. "Tsk, tsk, forgetting a certain family member are we?"

Sydney paused, confused. Realization quickly spread across her face. "_No_…"

Her look instantly turned into a glare. "What did you do to him?"

"He's safe with Anna and Jade… for now."

"I swear if you hurt him, Jade, or Anna I'll-"

"You'll what? As far as I know, you're pretty incapable of doing much of anything right now." Sydney glowered at him. "Now, Jade and Anna have nothing to worry about. He, on the other hand, well let's just say, he should be _very_ careful because he is your replacement, which in turn, makes him my replacement. He will suffer."

Joe looked at Sydney in confusion. "Replacement? Sydney, who is he talking about?"

Sydney bit her lip and looked away.

Kerk looked back and forth between the two of them. "You mean, he doesn't know?" The expression on Kerk's face showed that this was exactly what he wanted.

Sydney remained still and didn't say a word.

"Know what?" Joe was extremely confused.

"Well, he should, don't you think? So, will you tell him about JJ, or shall I?"

"Who's JJ?" Joe's eyes remained locked on Sydney. She had yet to look at him or say a single word.

Sydney's head went up and she glared at Kerk. "He doesn't need to know."

"Are you sure about that?"

Sydney was about to say something back, but stopped and closed her mouth. She looked back down.

Kerk laughed. "That's what I thought. Now, who's going to tell him?"

Sydney was silent.

"Very well then, I will." Kerk eyed Joe with an amusing glance. "JJ is her son."

The coloured drained from Joe's face. "What?" He looked at Sydney, who was still refusing to make eye contact with him.

"Well, to be more accurate, he's _your _son too." Joe looked back up at Kerk in shock. "Yes, that's right. You were a _daddy_ before Jade." Kerk spoke the word daddy with disgust.

Joe looked back at Sydney in disbelief. "Sydney, is that true?"

"Well, of course it's true."

Joe glared at Kerk. "I'll sell my soul to the devil before I believe anything that comes out of your mouth." He looked back at Sydney.

"Fine then, don't believe me, but it is true, isn't Sydney?"

Sydney remained silent and motionless for a few minutes. Various emotions flashed on her face. She nodded, barely.

Joe looked at her, stunned. "What? Why didn't you tell me?"

Kerk suppressed his glee that everything was going his way. "Allow me to explain that too. You see when a god or goddess turns eighteen they have to choose whether or not to stay at Draylon, but you knew that already. If they choose to stay, they remain a god, everything is fine, and life continues on normally. However, if they choose to leave, someone must take their place on the council, and rules dictate that that person must be a child of the god or goddess. So you see, she had to have a kid in order to leave Draylon to be with you and get her happily ever after."

Joe continued to stare at Sydney. He felt the blood rush to his face and he could hear pounding in his ears. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I couldn't." She was very quiet when she spoke.

"Couldn't?! How could you _not_ tell me?!" He paused when he realized something. "That's why you were at Draylon for an extra year and a half wasn't it? It wasn't because you had to finish things up at Draylon, it's because you were pregnant!" He fell back. "You were pregnant… with my kid."

"Joe, please..." Sydney had tears in her eyes.

Kerk grinned evilly. "Well, I can see you two have a lot to talk about. I'll just leave you to it then." He snapped his fingers and warped out. The bonds around them all disappeared and they were able to stand back up.

"I can't believe you didn't just tell me." Joe balled his fists.

Sydney's look hardened. "Look, I did what I had to do to leave. You know how much I needed to get out of that place."

"But why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you were sixteen, Joe! I couldn't force a child into your life! I wasn't going to do that to you." Joe opened his mouth to respond, but Sydney interrupted him. "Don't give me any speeches about how you would've taken care of him or helped me through it all. That's not the point. You had a life to live and I wasn't going to stop it. And I… I didn't want to make you feel like you had to be with me out of obligation."

"You should have told me." Joe's faced slowly morphed into a glare.

"Joe, I was pregnant with your child, and I knew it way before I knew I had to have a kid to leave Draylon, and I was going to tell you the day I found out, but then we had that fight, and I just couldn't." She looked back down, her confidence wavering. "After that, it was too late."

Joe snapped. "You're just like your mother."

Sydney held back the urge to hit him. "Excuse me?!"

"You heard me! You're just like your mother! You always hated her cause she got rid of you! You left your, _our_ son behind! What's the difference?!"

"The difference is, I love him! I tried everything I could to keep him! I didn't want to get rid of him! I made sure he was safe constantly! I had an entire army looking out for him! I still let him know I love him! I am involved with his life. I call him, send him gifts, and make sure I see him several times throughout the year! I still wish he was with me! I wish he was with us! I am _nothing_ like my mother, and don't you _ever_ say that!"

"Then why haven't I met him? Why haven't I heard about him before now? You've kept him hidden from me for eight years! Does he even know about me?"

"Of course he does! You think I wouldn't explain to him why he didn't have a father?" She pointed to Skyler. "Ask Sky if you don't believe me!"

Skyler, who had been nervously watching their exchange, jumped at the sound of his name. "Don't look at me! I told you this would all blow up in your face one day. Guess what? That day is finally here!"

"You knew about this?" Joe turned his anger on Skyler.

"Of course I knew! Who do you think was there to help her?"

"You-" Joe clenched his teeth and turned to Sydney. "You let him raise our kid?"

"No, I raised JJ. Skyler was there for help when I needed it. If I wasn't going to force a child onto you, why would I force it onto him?" Sydney crossed her arms. "Can you please just calm down so we can talk this out?"

"Calm down? I just found out my wife has been hiding my son from me for eight years! How many other secrets are you keeping from me? What else have you been lying straight to my face about?"

"Don't yell at her like that. You weren't there." Skyler glared at Joe.

"Stay out of this! As if I needed another reason to not trust you. There's no way you're marrying Anna now!" Joe sneered.

"Another reason? You didn't have a reason in the first place! You were being crazy and overprotective for no reason! You can't prevent Anna and me from getting married!"

"Watch me." Joe stepped forward. "Maybe if you had kept a better eye on her, she wouldn't have been taken in the first place!"

Sydney stepped in front of him. "Stop it, Joe! You're letting the anger get to you! It's only because we're stuck in this hellish place. You wouldn't be acting this way if we were back home."

"Really? You think I wouldn't be pissed if I found out about a long-lost child of mine? Because I disagree!"

Sydney clenched her fists. "Stop this! You're acting crazy! Why do I always have to be the responsible one in this relationship?"

"You're the responsible one? That's funny because it seems like I always end up taking care of you."

"What are you talking about?"

"The constant stressing out, the need for everything to be perfect! Not to mention the nightmares, the flashbacks, this whole secret past that I know practically nothing about! Though I'm glad to see _someone_ does." Joe scowled at Skyler. "You know, I'm not so sure I'm comfortable with how close you two are. Who knows what else you've been hiding behind my back."

Tears welled up in Sydney's eyes. "I gave up everything for you. Everything! I could be happily living with my son right now." She wiped the tears away.

"Our son."

"_My_ son."

Joe felt a stab at his heart. "You could still be living happily with him if you didn't hide him from me!"

"Oh, will you get over it?!" Sydney through her arms up in exasperation. "Yes, I lied to you, but I had my reasons!"

"It was kind of a bad thing to do, Syd. No matter what your reasons were," Skyler nervously added.

Sydney's rage turned to him. "You're taking his side? He doesn't even like you!"

Skyler held up his hands in defense. "I'm not taking anyone's side. I'm just stating my opinion."

"Whatever happened to always having each other's backs? I've done so much for you! Do you know how much you owe me?"

Skyler glowered. "Owe you? What are you talking about?"

"Taking you in, training you, letting you live with me, getting you together with your fiancé, and I've taught you practically everything you know! You're so dependent on me!"

"And that means that I owe you? I think I've paid you back plenty of times over the years. Who was there after the Pluphoria injections, the battles, and practically your only friend?" Skyler stepped forward. "Remember any of that? I don't think I'm the dependent one here."

"Well, if you had just left me alone and let me run away or, better yet, die, I wouldn't be such a problem for you!" Sydney could feel her nails digging into her palms. "You know what? _I'm done_." She stormed off.

"And where do you think you're going?"

"Away from you!"

"I think she's _actually_ got a good idea. I can reach the prison faster without you anyway!" Skyler went off in the opposite direction.

Joe huffed. "I've never been happier to be alone in my entire life!"

* * *

**A/N - I've been wanting to let that secret out for a while now. ;) Feels good to finally reveal it.**

**Let me know what you thought by leaving a review! I want to read some critiques and some reactions to the things that happened. And if you like this story follow and favourite it! I will love you very much for it! A little bonus question for this chapter: how do you guys feel about the chapter length in this story? I have a certain word count (2000) I try to meet with each chapter, but I don't know if you feel like it's too long or too short. Let me know!**

**Thanks for reading! **


	7. Separated

**7\. Separated**

"But why?"

Anna sighed and answered for the hundredth time, "I don't know, Jade."

Jade huffed and crossed her arms. "Mommy would know."

Anna frowned. Where all kids like this? Maybe she should rethink having any of her own. That was something her and Skyler would need to talk about.

"When is mommy coming?" Jade stared up at Anna. "I miss her."

Anna softly pushed Jade's hair away from her face. "I don't know, sweetie. Hopefully soon."

Anna bit her lip. She had hoped that the others would have gotten here by now, but there had been no sign of them. Jade was missing Joe and Sydney more and more each day. Anna's eyes wandered over to the figure in the corner. They had yet to say a word and Anna was sure they were just there to keep an eye on her and Jade. That thought still gave her chills.

"Tell me a story." Jade snuggled into Anna's side and yawned.

Anna blinked. "A story?"

Jade sleepily nodded. "Yeah, do the one mommy tells about the little prince."

"Um…" Anna froze. She knew Sydney told Jade bedtime stories and even sang her to sleep sometimes, but she didn't actually know any of the details of the stories. "How about I make up a new one for you?"

"No. Mommy's stories aren't made up. She says they're real. I want a _real_ story." Jade yawned again. "I want the one about the little prince and the angels."

"But Jade, I don't know-"

"Once upon a time, there was a little prince from a magical kingdom."

Anna jumped. It was the first time the figure had spoken since they had gotten here. The voice sounded like a young boy.

The boy shifted in his spot, but remained out of view. He continued. "The boy had a mother who loved him more than anything in the world and every night before he went to bed, his mother would call upon little green angels that would dance for him."

Jade perked up and clapped. "He knows the story, Aunty Anna."

"I see." Anna watched the boy with a mix of fear and curiosity. She wrapped an arm around Jade to keep her by Anna's side.

"Come here." Jade tried to wave the boy over to them.

He remained in the corner in the dark, but he continued with the story. "One day, his mother had to leave the magical kingdom and this made the little prince very sad. His mother was the only real family member he had. He begged the mother not to leave, but the magical kingdom was poisonous to her and she had to go away. Before his mother left, she promised to always love him. And so, the night before she left, she called upon her little green angels one last time to give their final dance, but this dance was special."

Jade clasped her hands. "This is my favourite part."

"His mother used her magic to send the angels into the sky. Now, whenever the little prince misses his mother, all he has to do is look up into the sky and see all the angels dancing just for him." The boy moved around and leaned forward, finally revealing his face.

Anna studied him. His skin was light brown and he had short, brown spikey hair. At first glance his eyes looked green, but he noticed Anna staring at him and quickly looked down. He looked familiar to her. Anna couldn't figure out where, but she was sure she had seen this boy before.

Jade giggled. "Does you mommy tell you that story too?"

The boy nervously scratched the back of his head. "She used to."

Anna tried to get a better look at the boy, but he had leaned back into the shadows. She pursed her lips in thought. Why did he look so familiar?

* * *

_That was not a wise thing to do, Joseph._

Joe frowned. "Great. Now you can talk to me even when I'm not sleeping?"

_You need to find them. Soon._

"Isis, I don't have time for you right now. I just found out that I have a son that my wife's been hiding from me for eight years! Your future portal things didn't predict that." Joe crossed his arms and tried to block her from his mind to no avail.

_You are all in danger. Find them. Now._

"And why should I do that? I have no desire to see either of them at the moment, and I'm pretty sure they feel the same way." Joe paused. Isis didn't respond. "Isis?"

Joe sighed. "Whatever. I'm better off without her anyway."

Despite his words, deep down he had a gut feeling that she was right. Splitting up in a place like After Time was probably not the best idea, especially since Joe knew nothing about it. All he knew was that Jade and Anna were being held in a prison building somewhere to the east. He wanted to get up and continue to find them, but he couldn't remember if the sun was stuck in a perpetual sunrise or a sunset.

His face flushed with embarrassment. Okay, splitting up in a place like After Time was definitely not a good idea, but he had no choice. Skyler and Sydney had left him after their argument. He couldn't blame them. They'd all said some pretty nasty things to each other.

Joe sighed and rested his head against a rock. He was still processing it all. He had a son, an actual son. He couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face. He'd always wanted a son. He loved Jade and she was his world, but a son? Joe could bond with him over sports and maybe even teach him a magic trick or two. Provided they could get over the initial awkwardness of meeting for the first time.

What's he like? Joe began to wonder all sorts of things about him. Who did he take after? Did he have Joe's hair, but Sydney's eyes? Maybe he was really tall. If we was at Draylon, was he a god? Or did he inherit Joe's mortal side?

Joe grinned to himself. Did he like magic as much as Joe? What was his favourite sport? Maybe he was more artistic like Sydney and had a passion for music.

Joe didn't care what his son was like. All that mattered was that he had a son.

* * *

"Oh, Sydney… what have you done? You know this is exactly what he wanted, right?"

Sydney rubbed her temples in annoyance. "I close my eyes for five minutes, and I get sucked back here? Fantastic."

She tried to step away from the edge, but her feet were glued to the spot. A familiar battle raged on in front of her.

The other Sydney chuckled darkly. "You can't escape yourself."

Sydney closed her eyes. "I know this isn't real. You're just a figment of my imagination."

"Figment of your imagination?" The other Sydney let out a harsh laugh. She reached out and slapped Sydney across the face.

"Ow!" Sydney clutched the side of her face. "What the hell was that for?"

"I'm no figment of your imagination."

"Why didn't you just say so? You didn't have to hit me. _Shit_, that hurts." She continued to massage the side of her face which was now bright red.

"This was more fun and maybe I could've knocked some sense into your head."

"What are you talking about?" Sydney glared at the other her and looked ready to kill her. "And I you're not a figment of my imagination, then what are you?"

"You don't remember me? That hurts Sydney, it really does." The other Sydney pouted and held a hand over her heart.

Sydney studied this person standing before her and racked her memory to figure out who they were. "Sin?"

"In the flesh." She gestured to herself. "Well, sort of, at least." She held out a glowing dream catcher. "These things don't physically move you anywhere."

Sydney sneered. "What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like? I'm helping you reach your potential." She gestured to the battle still going on. "It's almost time."

"Time for what?"

Sin put on a secretive grin. "You'll see. In the meantime, I've been prepping the world for you."

"Prepping the world for me? What have you been up to?" Sydney put her hands on her hips and studied Sin.

"I've gotten myself into the dark arts business. After all, I wouldn't exist without it. I figured I could repay it with my services." Sin bared her teeth in a dark grin. "There's a whole market for this stuff. I think it's time you started practicing again."

"No." Sydney threw her arms down. "It was a bad idea to ever start that stuff to begin with." Sydney shivered. "It affects you."

"It's still a part of you. They may have taken away your time powers, but they could never take away that part of you." Sin smirked. "After all, I'm still here aren't I?"

"At least I can control myself."

"Can you though?" Sin turned towards the fight. "Because it looks to me like the dark side has gained an advantage."

"That doesn't matter. I don't want to hurt anyone. I have a family that I need to protect and love."

"Love? You?" Sin laughed viciously. "You were weren't created for loving. You were made to kill. Everything about you from your heightened senses to the sharpness of your nails." Sin snatched Sydney's hand to examine her sharp nails. Sydney quickly yanked her hand away, scratching Sin in the process.

Sin let out a hiss of pain. She held out her bloody palm and sneered. "See? You're the ultimate murder weapon. Love was never in the cards for you."

Sydney winced and turned away from the blood. "I can change that."

"You know better than most the power of destiny. How many prophecies have you seen come true? You can't fight fate."

Sydney's head snapped to Sin. "Is there a new prophecy?"

Sin let out a low laugh. "Not exactly. But there have been rumors flooding the dark arts world. Something big is coming. The demons are stirring in anticipation, and something tells me this involves you."

"But I haven't-"

"Not yet, but they know. They're waiting for you."

"Who's they?"

"Stop denying who you are." Sin ignored her question. "We're done here."

And with that, the dream abruptly ended.

* * *

Joe drummed his fingers against his leg. He stared at his wedding ring tattoo. He should really try to find Skyler and Sydney, but they had gone off in different directions and Joe didn't want to get lost.

He sighed. He should've listened to Sydney. This place was slowly getting to all of them and they all had a short fuse. In the moment, it had seemed like the best thing to do. They obviously couldn't be around each other. They were practically about to kill each other.

There was a rustling from behind.

Joe jumped and looked around. "Who's there?" All he saw was the usual barren wasteland scattered with rocks. "What?" He was certain he had heard something. He was worried it was Kerk coming back to attack him. He had clearly wanted them all separated from each other. Maybe it was Sydney or Skyler coming back?

Joe was tackled into the ground. He yelled and struggled to get his attacker off of him.

"Shh!" The attacker pinned him down.

"Skyler? What are you-"

Skyler muffled Joe's mouth. "I said, shh!" He rapidly looked around.

Joe could feel his tension. He struggled beneath him, but Skyler had him in a tight hold.

The green shot came out of nowhere. Joe stilled. What was going on?

"Come on. We need to move, now." Skyler pulled Joe to his feet and they took off.

"What was that?" Joe tried to look over his shoulder, but he didn't see anything.

"Kerk's trying to kill us. That's why he separated us."

Joe gazed at Skyler. He noticed a gash near his shoulder.

"I thought he didn't want to kill us?" Joe did his best to keep up with Skyler.

"Guess he lied. How surprising." Skyler stared at Joe. "Where's Syd?"

Joe bit his lip. "I haven't seen her since-"

"Look out!" Another blast shot down in front them. They both stopped dead in their tracks.

"We're going to need to find her. If this is what Kerk has planned for us, I don't even want to imagine what he has in store for her." Skyler looked for a new direction to run to.

Joe's heart skipped a beat. He couldn't let Kerk get to Sydney.

"And where do you think you two are going?" Kerk appeared behind them. "You're not trying to run away are you? Because that would be a very bad idea." The green magic built up again in his hands.

"Hey, Kerk!" A stone slammed into the back of his head. "Leave them alone! Your fight is with me, not them!"

A wicked grin spread over Kerk's face. "On the contrary, dear sister, I have plans to fight all of you. I was hoping to do it separately, but this will do."

Sydney glared at him. "Don't touch them."

"I don't plan to." Kerk waved his hand and a wave of green flowed over Joe and Skyler. They were pushed down. Their heads bounced into the dirt and they were knocked unconscious.

"No!" Sydney screamed. She threw herself into Kerk.

"That's not a smart idea, sister. We wouldn't want you to get hurt, now would we?"

"I'm not afraid of you."

"You should be." Kerk shot out a blast of energy into her face.

Sydney rolled out of the way. "You don't have to do this! We have a common enemy. Let's team up and take her down together."

"Enemy? I'm afraid you've completely misunderstood the situation. We are not on the same side here."

"Please, Kerk. I don't want to hurt you."

"You hurt me?" He barked out a laugh. "How would you ever manage to do that?"

"Like this." Sydney swung her leg out and roundhouse kicked Kerk in the gut. He fell to the ground, clutching his stomach. "Who knew dancing would be such a great way to maintain your fighting skills?"

Kerk scowled at her. "This changes nothing. I will still torture you and all your loved ones." His scowl melted into a smirk. "Now I'll just have to do it in front of them."

Sydney stilled. "What are you talking about?"

"I think it's about time we reunited the happy family."

Green mist slowly began to envelope them and in a bright flash, they were gone.


	8. Reunited

**8\. Reunited**

Joe and Skyler landed in a heap on the floor of a cell, still unconscious. Sydney braced herself against a wall, covering her mouth to hold back the vomit.

Anna freaked and held Jade close to her side. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust and see who had just warped into the cell. "Sydney?" A huge grin split across Anna's face. "Is it really you?"

Sydney stumbled as she turned to see who had spoken. "Anna!" Sydney's eyes widened and she almost fell to her knees. "Jade!"

She ran up to her and hugged her for what seemed like forever.

"Mommy!" Jade squealed with joy.

Sydney smiled at Jade with tears in her eyes. "Sweetie, I missed you very much. Are you okay? Are you hurt at all?" She started checking Jade all over for injuries. All she found were a few scratches. She showered her with kisses. "I'm so glad you're alright!" Sydney tightly hugged her again.

"Mommy? Where's Daddy?" Jade looked around the cell for Joe.

Sydney frowned and glanced over her shoulder at Joe and Skyler, who were still unconscious. Anna was now trying to wake them.

"He'll be fine. He and Uncle Sky are just tired. We've been looking very hard for you." Sydney felt a light tugging on the corner of her shirt. She looked down and smiled at the boy.

"Mom?" The boy stared up at Sydney with questioning eyes.

"JJ!" Sydney let go of Jade and hugged JJ. "I was so worried about you! How are you?"

"I'm fine. Kerk hasn't done anything to us yet. Are you here to help?"

Sydney nodded and examined JJ further. "Are you sure you're okay?" Upon closer inspection JJ looked ill. His skin was pale and his eyes were sunken in.

JJ nodded. "I'm okay, really. Just a little tired is all." He straightened up to look stronger.

Sydney frowned. "JJ, I know this place can be deadly to gods. You're not getting sufficient time energy here. We need to get you back to Draylon."

JJ's shoulders slumped. "I'm okay. I promise. I want to stay with you."

"I know you do, sweetie, but-"

"Do you know him? Kerk took him too," Anna walked up behind them.

Sydney turned to her and nodded. "He's my son." She gently stroked his face and smiled.

Anna stood there with a blank expression on her face. She looked back and forth between JJ and Joe. "Is he…"

Sydney nodded. "Yes, he's Joe's."

Anna paused. So that's why she thought she recognized him. He looked exactly like Joe. "So… how old is he?"

"Eight." Sydney sat down against the wall with Jade and JJ on either side of her.

"Eight. That would mean… _oh_." Anna nervously bit her lip and looked back over at Joe and Skyler who had yet to wake up.

Sydney nodded. "Mhmm." Sydney looked back at JJ and noticed he was covered with scars. She frowned. "Did Kerk do this to you? I swear when I see him again-"

"No." JJ emphatically shook his head.

Sydney looked at JJ. "No?"

JJ continued to shake his head. "They're not from Kerk. They're from training."

"Training?" Sydney glared. "Nicole's been training you!? I made her swear to not start training you until you were ten. I'm going to kill her!"

"Mommy?" Jade was staring at Sydney with nervous eyes.

Sydney quickly calmed herself. "It's okay, sweetie. Mommy is just a little stressed is all."

"Daddy says stress is bad for mommy."

Sydney's lip turned up in a half-smile. "Yes, yes he does."

Jade frowned as she stared at Joe. "Why is daddy still sleeping?"

"He's um… just resting so he can have more energy to play with you later." Sydney watched Joe with an anxious expression on her face. "He'll be up soon." But Sydney didn't sound so sure. She sighed and wrapped her arms around her children.

JJ was staring at Jade with a curious expression on his face. "Mom?"

"Yes?" Sydney looked to him and noticed he was staring at Jade. "Oh, right. I guess you never did get a formal introduction. JJ this is Jade, your little sister."

Jade blinked at JJ with her big eyes. She frowned. "I said no boys. I wanted a sister. Tell the stork to take him back," she huffed and crossed her arms.

Sydney laughed. "I know sweetie, but this is your older brother. The stork has yet to bring your other sibling yet." Sydney patted her stomach.

JJ's eyes slowly moved from Jade to Sydney's belly with an unreadable expression on his face. "Oh."

Sydney looked away guiltily. "I'm sorry, JJ. I meant to tell you, but it's been so long since I've been able to visit."

JJ leaned away. "I know."

Sydney pulled JJ close to her. "I'm sorry I haven't been able to see you more often, but that doesn't mean I love you any less."

JJ turned to her with a soft smile on his face. "I know that too." JJ turned his head towards Skyler and Joe. "So, does that mean my dad is here too?"

Before Sydney could answer, she was interrupted.

"Daddy!" Jade yelped and ran over to Joe.

Joe groggily sat up and rubbed his head. "What happ- oof!" Jade wrapped her arms around him. Joe beamed and hugged her back. "Hey, baby girl. Are you okay?"

Jade nodded. "Mommy kissed all the owies away!" She giggled and skipped back over to Sydney.

Joe was relieved to see that Sydney was okay. He grinned at her, but his smile faded when he saw the small boy sitting next to her. Sydney uncomfortably tried to smile back at him.

"Skyler!" Anna ran up to Skyler who was just now waking up as well. "Thank god you're okay!" She practically tackled him in a hug.

"Anna!" Skyler quickly recovered from his unconscious state and embraced Anna. He pulled her in for a deep kiss.

Normally, Joe would've been upset, but his eyes were locked on Sydney and the boy sitting next to her. He ran a hand through his hair and slowly made his way over to them.

Sydney took a deep breath. "Glad to see you're okay."

Joe mutely nodded. He eyes flicked back and forth between Sydney and the child.

"I guess there's no putting this off any longer." Sydney put her hands on JJ's shoulders. "Joe, meet your son, JJ."

* * *

**A/N - Sorry that this chapter is so short. I'll be going away for the next three days so I probably won't have much writing time. Sorry in advance for the delay in updates!**

**If you enjoyed a favourite (according to my traffic stats, lots of you keep reading this, but so far it only has one favourite) would be very much loved! I'd love to hear your thoughts with a review/critique! Thanks for reading! Follow me to be alerted to all my future updates and posts!**


	9. Hello

**9\. Hello**

JJ clung to Sydney's arm and observed Joe with large eyes.

Sydney smiled down on him and gently kissed his temple. "It's okay. It's my fault this is happening so late. You should've known him from birth."

"Um… hey." Joe meekly waved to JJ.

JJ became uncharacteristically quiet and remained attached to Sydney's arm.

"Mommy, I'm sleepy." Jade yawned and snuggled into Sydney's side. "Can we go home yet?"

"We'll be home before you know it, sweetie." Sydney kissed the top of Jade's head. "You can go ahead and go to sleep. I promise we'll go home soon."

Jade mumbled a soft reply and quickly fell asleep leaning on Sydney.

"So… you two obviously have a lot of talking to do. I'll just take Jade and leave you two alone for a little bit." Sydney began to stand up.

"No!" JJ and Joe shouted simultaneously.

Joe sat down in front of Sydney and Jade. "I think you should stay here, and you know, help break the ice a little?"

"I guess I could. Are you sure you're not still mad at me?" Sydney turned away and started to scratch her wrist.

"It's okay. I don't blame you for anything." Joe grabbed her hand to stop the scratching. He smiled at her and she smiled back. She opened her mouth to speak, but was quickly interrupted.

"Hey, JJ." Skyler waved at him as he and Anna joined them.

JJ grinned. "Hi, Uncle Sky."

"How have you been, kid?" Skyler ruffled JJ's hair and sat down next to him. Anna sat down next to Joe and they tightly hugged each other.

"You mean before all this? I've been good. You?"

"Well, your mom's been keeping me pretty busy lately." Skyler smirked at Sydney and she rolled her eyes in response.

Joe watched the exchange with a mix of emotions. He was hurt that Skyler knew Joe's son better than Joe did. They slipped into conversation so easily and behaved liked they knew each other for years, which they probably did. Joe felt jealous of their connection. He wanted that with JJ. After all, JJ was Joe's son, not Skyler's. Joe felt something touch his hand. He looked down to see Sydney's hand on top of his.

She smiled at him with calm eyes and softly kissed him. "Skyler's trying to help. Just listen."

"So how is pello-pila going?" Skyler leaned back against the wall and casually grinned at JJ.

"Great! We won our match last weekend and coach says that we could win the championship if we keep it up!" JJ bounced with excitement.

Joe gave Sydney a quizzical look and mouthed 'pello-pila' to her.

She leaned in to whisper in his ear. "It's a sport that's really popular at the Warp Academy. It's sort of like soccer combined with dodgeball. It's very magic heavy, but at JJ's level it's not so intense."

Joe was almost too engrossed in figuring out what a sport consisting of a combination of soccer and dodgeball would look like to pay attention to the conversation. He snapped back to reality at the mention of magic.

"Learn any cool, new magic tricks lately?" Skyler watched Joe out of the corner of his eye with a bemused grin on his face.

"Well… I was practicing this thing where I could manipulate the time currents," JJ looked down at his hands, "but it wasn't working out very well. I was planning on practicing it during my next training lesson."

"You've already started training, huh?" Skyler glanced at Sydney with a concerned expression on his face.

"Trust me, Nicole and I will be having a long chat about that." Sydney scowled.

JJ looked like he wanted to say something, but decided against it. "What if you showed me how to do it, mom? You were always so awesome with this kind of stuff. We don't really have anything else to do while we're here."

Sydney frowned and caressed JJ's head. "I really shouldn't, JJ. This place is bad enough for you. You need to conserve your energy, not spend it."

JJ sighed and looked away. "Okay."

"He's right though. We have a lot of free time. We should discuss a plan of action." Skyler looked around the cell. It was very dark and hard to see. It smelled like death. All the walls were cracked and there was so much grime on the ground that you couldn't see the floor.

"How much exploring have you done, Anna?"

"Not much. I was too busy watching over Jade."

"There might be a hidden secret somewhere that could get us out of here. We'd still have to figure out a way to get home, but at least it's a start." Skyler stood up. "Joe, help me look around?"

Joe couldn't think of any reason to say no, so he got up and began to walk around with Skyler.

"I want to help too." JJ moved to get up, but ended up yawning instead.

"Oh no, you don't." Sydney pulled him back over. "You need your sleep."

"But I want to help. I can do it," JJ pleaded with her.

"I know you can. That's not the issue. You're clearly tired. Don't strain yourself. Get some rest." Sydney wrapped her arm around him.

"Fine." JJ leaned his head on Sydney's shoulder and was soon sleeping.

* * *

"He's a lot like you," Skyler spoke as if this was a normal conversation for them. They were now across the room from the girls and JJ. "I mean, JJ stands for Joe Junior. If you were the same age, you could pass as twins. He likes sports and he's very in to magic. Though I think that's because he's trying to impress Sydney. JJ is a great kid, but he can be a bit of a mama's boy."

"Magic, huh? Maybe I can show him a few tricks." Joe smiled at the thought.

Skyler chuckled. "I mean actual magic. He's a god, Joe. Your card tricks may amuse him, but he has actual powers. He took after Sydney in that department. He has a lot of her fiery spirit in him."

"Oh."

_He took after you too. You have just as much magic inside you and he does._

Joe jumped and spun around, expecting Isis to be standing behind him or something.

"You okay?" Skyler gave him a curious look.

"Yeah, fine. I thought I heard something." He went back to examining the cell.

_Ignoring me will not help, Joseph._

"Would you just go away?" Joe growled.

"Sorry?" Skyler stared at him in confusion. "What did you just say?"

"Nothing." Joe blushed and turned away before Skyler could ask more questions.

_You need to prepare yourself. He's coming for you._

"Prepare myself for what?" Joe thought to Isis. "It'd be nice if you could be direct with me for once."

_Your crossroads._

Oh, that. Joe sighed. The decision he was going to make that could destroy the world or save it from a destructive end. He felt a heavy weight on his shoulders. This wasn't something he had time to deal with at the moment. His main priority was to get his family home safe.

_You can't avoid fate, my child._

* * *

"Thank you, by the way." Sydney smiled at Anna.

Anna blinked. "For what?"

"For taking care of Jade while we were searching for you guys. I know she can be a bit of a handful." Sydney watched Jade as she peacefully slept beside her. "Motherhood is not the easiest job in the world."

"It's no problem. Of course I would take care of her. She's my niece, I love her. It was just like extreme babysitting." Anna grinned. She watched Jade and JJ sleeping on Sydney. "So, what's it like?"

"What? Being a mom?" Sydney smiled down at her children. "It's exhausting, disgusting, challenging, frustrating, terrifying, and chaotic."

"Oh." Anna nervously put a hand on her stomach.

"But it is also wonderful, magical, beautiful, elating, thrilling, and the most amazing experience you will ever have in your lifetime." Sydney kissed the top of JJ and Jade's heads and then turned to Anna. "I wouldn't change a thing. Why? I would recommend being married for a few years before you and Sky have children together. It definitely makes things easier."

"Um… we don't exactly have a choice." Anna bit her lip.

"What are you talking about?" Sydney studied Anna and glanced down at her stomach. "_Oh, Anna_."

"Don't tell Skyler! I haven't had a chance to tell him yet, but I will, I promise." Anna wrapped her arms around herself. "I just have to figure out how first."

Sydney ran a hand down her face. "It's not Sky I'm worried about, but you better tell him soon. Trust me on that. You do realize I won't be able to stop Joe from killing him when he finds out? There will be nothing I can do to prevent that."

"He won't kill Skyler… will he?" Anna watched her brother search around the cell with her fiancé. "Oh, no. He's going to get the wrong idea. This isn't all Skyler's fault. I swear we waited until we were engaged to even start… you know."

Sydney shook her head. "I doubt that's going to help."

Anna sighed, "I'm too young to be a widow."

* * *

**A/N - Sorry for the short and mostly uneventful chapter, but this is more of a set-up for the end. There's about 3-4 chapters left in this. **

**If you enjoyed, a favourite would be very much loved! Please give me your thoughts and opinions in a review/critique. Don't forget to follow me for more! Thanks for reading!**


	10. Magic of a Warp Wiz

**10\. Magic of a Warp Wiz**

Three days. They were stuck in their musty, cramped cell for three days and Joe was starting to wonder if Kerk would ever show up. He knew Kerk was only taking his time with them to extend their suffering. He'd show up eventually to finish them off.

Their situation in the cell had not improved. Joe and Skyler had found nothing that would help them escape. It was probably his imagination, but the room seemed to become smaller and smaller every day. Maybe it was just from being stuck in prison cell with five other people, including his estranged son that he had yet to make any real progress with. It wasn't for lack of trying, but things were just so awkward between the two of them.

And to top it all off, Isis had remained completely silent. Joe tried to reach out to her, but he never got anything back. Even his dreams had been oddly lacking her presence. He'd sort of gotten used to her motherly voice talking in his head. A part of him missed that warmth that always filled him whenever she was near. Her godly visits had completely stopped, and Joe wasn't sure that was a good thing.

It didn't help that Joe was filled with questions for her. Isis had called herself the patron goddess of the Warp Wizards. Joe hadn't heard that name since Freddi had let it slip all those years ago. He'd pretty much forgotten about it. It had seemed so insignificant that he had never even mentioned to Sydney whenever he told her about his past adventures. Once Joe started thinking about it, there were a lot of things he had forgotten about. Comparing his life back then to his life now gave him a headache. Joe had the strongest sense that the biggest changes had yet to come.

A bright flash of green light filled their cell. Instead of feeling afraid, Joe felt relived. It was about time Kerk showed up. He saw his sinister face appear out the green light and Joe was quickly filled with a sense a hatred.

"Hello, my lovely little prisoners. How are we all doing today?" Kerk sneered at them from the other side of the cell.

Joe and Skyler immediately shot up to protect the girls and the kids.

Kerk chuckled at their bravery. "Fools. Do you really think you can stop me? A god in his own element?"

"Watch us."

"Unless you've decided to let us go. It would make you avoid a lot of pain."

Kerk looked down on them with a smirk. "Not a chance. I've spent a few days deliberating on just how I was going to make you all suffer."

Joe rolled his eyes. "Can't wait to see what you've come up with."

"You won't get the opportunity." Kerk snapped to him. "I've decided to kill you. It will be slow and painful of course. My sister on the other hand," Kerk slowly turned to Sydney with a sneer, "will have a special punishment, and if he's lucky, so will the little mutt." Kerk turned his glare to JJ.

"What did you call my son?" Sydney growled. She stood and stomped over to Kerk.

"The mutt? What did you expect? He's a mix of a god and a pathetic mortal. How he's supposed to take your place, I'll never know." Kerk crossed his arms. "It's not like he's shown any promise. Probably all that lowly mortal blood in him conflicting with his magic."

_Well, it's a good thing he's got your Warp Wizard blood in him._

Joe did everything he could not to jump at the sound of Isis' voice. _Nice to hear from you again_, Joe thought, _where have you been?_

_Observing. I am not meant to interfere._

Whatever that meant. Joe ignored that familiar warmth that had filled him and focused on the situation before him. Sydney had gotten dangerously close to Kerk and Joe had to pull her away.

Sydney and Kerk continued to glare at each other.

Kerk let out a low laugh. He disappeared in a green fog and reappeared directly in front of Sydney inside the cell. He pressed forward forcing Sydney back against a wall. "I was planning on saving you for last, but maybe I should incapacitate you first."

Sydney kneed Kerk in the gut. "I'd love to see you try."

Kerk clutched his stomach. "You little bitch." His palm flared to life with a burst of green. His other hand reached out to pin Sydney against the wall. He kept her suspended off the ground by the collar of her shirt.

The warmth inside Joe built up and focused over his heart. He clenched his fists. "Let her go."

Kerk sneered at Joe over his shoulder. "Oh? And what are you going to do if I don't?"

Joe faltered. He knew he needed to help, but he didn't have any powers like Kerk had or even the combat training Sydney or Skyler had. He was determined to save his family.

_Use your magic, my child._

At the sound of Isis' voice, the heat inside Joe intensified and he felt like the area of his chest over his heart was on fire.

"That's exactly what I thought." Kerk interpreted Joe's silence as weakness and returned his attention to Sydney. She was squirming in his grasp and trying to break free.

Joe looked over at Anna and saw that she was trying to shield Jade's eyes while holding back JJ who was trying to run over to Sydney. Skyler had a calculating look on his face, mentally running through ways to attack Kerk without hurting Sydney in the process.

"It's very amusing to watch you squirm like this. I'd be careful though. We wouldn't want anything to happen to the baby." Kerk's magic filled hand slowly reached for Sydney's lower stomach.

Joe centered himself and his eyes locked onto Kerk. "I said, let her go."

Kerk's hand froze an inch away from Sydney. "I thought you were going to stay out this."

"You thought wrong."

"Very well then." Kerk let go of Sydney and she crashed to the ground. He let the magic in his hand grow. He held his hand over Sydney's head. "Is this what you wanted?"

Joe scowled at Kerk. The burning in his chest had not subsided and his heart still felt like it was on fire.

_Don't fight it. Let it go._

"You can join her in her eternal torture. You can thank your stupid actions for that." Kerk pulled Sydney's face up and swung his magic filled palm at her.

"No!"

Joe threw his hands out in front him. He felt the heat inside him shift forward and watched as a green wave washed out of Joe's hands and knocked Kerk off his feet. Kerk slammed into a wall on the other side of the cell.

Joe stared at his hands in shock and awe. Where had that come from?

_Congratulations, Joseph. You have taken the first step towards your destiny. Embrace it. Now, finish this fight._

The cell became eerily silent. Nobody moved and even dared to breathe.

"Joe?" Sydney stared at him with a look of immense fear. She attempted the stand but the moment she put weight on her foot she collapsed back to the ground.

"Mom!" JJ managed to escape Anna's grasp. He ran to Sydney and hugged her tight.

Sydney put her arms around him and kept him away from the action. She whispered something in his ear and JJ nodded in reply. He stayed by her side and didn't let go of her.

Joe failed to find any words to describe this latest event. His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, but nothing came out.

"Well isn't this an interesting turn of events." Kerk stood and brushed himself off. "I do believe this fight just became a little more fun."

Joe glared at Kerk. The desire to protect his family gave him a new sense of confidence. "I warned you."

Kerk chuckled in an amused manner. "I suppose you did." His hands lit back up with green energy. "Let's put this new… talent of yours to use."

Kerk flung out his arms and shot at Joe with several blasts.

Joe froze. His first wave that had knocked Kerk down had been an accident. He didn't actually know how to summon any magic. He jumped out of the way, barely missing Kerk's shots. Kerk kept firing at him, and Joe knew he couldn't just keep dodging. He would have to take the offensive if he wanted to stop Kerk. But what could he do?

Joe rolled into a corner and braced himself against the wall. A glowing green orb was headed straight for his face. Joe threw his hands in front of him and hoped that this old trick would work.

"Slow!"

The ball instantly decreased speed to a crawl, but it was still coming for him. Joe concentrated on the warm feeling that Isis had given him and tried to focus it in his hands. He felt it surge forward again and the time energy ball flew back at Kerk. It hit him square in the chest and he collided with the wall again.

Kerk didn't get up so easily this time. He stumbled as started to rise.

Joe was having difficulty keeping himself up. He wasn't used to using this much energy and throwing magic around. He felt light-headed and was having trouble keeping his vision clear.

Kerk finally managed to stand. "I will destroy you!" His veins slowly turned green and his eyes began to glow.

Joe braced himself. He knew he had to do something before Kerk managed to build up all his power. He directed all his energy to a single place and focused on putting his all into it. All the warmth flowed into his hands.

Kerk's body had almost completely turned green. The magic flowed through his veins and was racing down his arms to his fingertips.

Joe took a deep breath and thrust his arms out before him. He felt the magic leave his body and saw as it hurled directly at Kerk.

The last thing Joe saw was a flash of green slam Kerk's head into the wall and watched as his body crumpled to the ground. Joe had a fleeting sense of pride and then all he saw was darkness.


	11. Enemies

**11\. Enemies**

Joe was growing tired of Isis' dream visits.

"Haven't I been here already?" He stared at three familiar ovals flashing the same images they were the last time he'd been here. The green mist swirled around him everywhere, but unlike last time it moved with more energy and the tendrils desperately reached out to him, not lazily flowing around the small clearing.

He studied the portals. Hadn't he already made his decision? He used magic to stop Kerk. Magic he didn't even know he possessed! Wasn't that 'embracing his destiny', as Isis had called it?

He glanced down at his hands. He had too many questions and not enough answers. "Where did it come from?"

Joe experimentally stretched out his hand to the green fog surrounding him. It responded with vigor and wrapped itself around his arm and danced along his skin. Joe had to repress his laughter from both the ticklish sensation the mist gave him and the surge of happiness he had. He had magic! Actual magic, not just the silly slight-of-hand tricks he liked to do.

"You've done well, my child."

Joe jumped and the mist instantly recoiled, flowing back into the rest of the encompassing fog. He turned to see Isis standing behind him. She smiled at him in a motherly way, like she was proudly looking down on her favourite child.

"I was impressed with your ability to wield time so well. What you did takes most Warp Wizards years of training to accomplish."

Joe frowned in thought. "I accepted my Warp Wizard status. Wasn't that my big decision? Why are these still here?" He gestured to the glowing ovals behind him.

Isis shook her head. "You have accepted nothing yet. You do not yet know what it truly means to be a Warp Wizard. I suspect you will learn more when you wake, and you may not like what you hear, but remember there are two sides to every story. My time god cousins do not approve of my children. However, you have still chosen your path by using your magic. You have passed your crossroads."

Joe continued to study the portals. "Using my magic… So, does this mean I'm going to lose the thing I love most?" His heart clenched at the thought of losing something that important to him. He had just gotten Jade back, he didn't want to go through grief like that again.

Isis studied Joe for a moment. "Maybe. We will see. Your choice has had interesting consequences."

She turned to leave.

"Wait!" Joe called after her, but it was too late. Isis had disappeared.

Joe sighed and twisted back around to the ovals. His body froze and his heart stopped. Two of the portals had disappeared and only one remained.

Joe gazed into the final oval where the green mist swirled round and round, but gave him no previews of his future.

"What have I done?"

* * *

The room slowly came into focus. Joe groaned and clutched the side of his head. He tried to sit up, but was quickly pushed back down. Not that he minded, his head was swirling from barely moving. He squeezed his eyes shut.

"Easy there. That was quite the show. You're going to want to lie down for a little after that."

Joe felt soft hands on him, presumably checking for cuts and bruises. Joe sighed and reached out for their owner. He found an arm and pulled it down next to him, wrapping his arms tightly around the owner.

"I missed you too, buddy," a voice laughed.

Joe managed to crack an eye open to see who he was holding.

"Ahh!" Joe pushed Skyler away from him and scooted as far away as he could.

Skyler continued to laugh. "What? Expecting someone else?"

Joe didn't get the chance to respond. Another headache washed over him and he went back to clutching his head with a groan.

"Joe!" Anna rushed over to him and embraced him, showing no signs of letting go. "I was worried you weren't ever going to wake up. You were out for hours?"

Hours? Joe slowly looked around and took in the situation. They were still in the same cell. More rubble had fallen down around them, probably from his and Kerk's fight. Joe glanced down at his hands. They didn't look any different, but they had definitely been wielding magic earlier. Joe still felt that same warmth swirling around inside him, and something told him that it wasn't going to go away anytime soon. He rubbed his chest over his heart where the heat was strongest.

Anna and Skyler were studying him with curious expressions. They hovered over him expectantly. Their eyes kept darting from his face to his chest.

"What?" Joe stared at them.

"Um…" Skyler bit his lip.

"What?" Joe asked again, growing impatient. He could tell there was something they weren't telling him.

"Well…" Anna started, but she couldn't find the words to finish.

"You're little uh… show has resulted in some drama," Skyler said.

"Drama? What are you talking about? I stopped Kerk, didn't I?" Joe tried to look past Skyler and Anna to see if Kerk was even in the room, but they were intentionally blocking his view.

"You did… but in the process you created an entirely new problem for yourself. I'm sure you didn't mean to do it, but well, the damage is already done." Skyler wasn't making eye contact with him.

"Would someone please tell me what's going on?" Joe was practically yelling.

"You just became the biggest enemy in this room," a dark voice spoke up. "Which is impressive given that I'm still here."

Joe recognized the voice immediately. Kerk. Apparently he survived the fight, but considering Anna and Skyler were focused on Joe and not him, he figured that Kerk must not be an issue at the moment. Hopefully that meant that he was detained.

It took a moment for Kerk's words to register with Joe. "The biggest enemy in the room? What is that supposed to mean?"

"That you're lucky to be alive," Kerk continued.

Skyler shot a glare at him over his shoulder. "Would you be quiet?"

"I'm merely providing the information he wants to hear."

Skyler sighed. "I wish we had a gag for him."

Joe blinked and thought about Kerk's words. "What exactly did I get myself into?" He studied Anna and Skyler. "I need answers."

Skyler ran his hand through his hair and opened his mouth to speak, but someone interrupted him before he could.

"You're a Warp Wizard." The voice was laced with venom.

Joe sighed with relief and felt a grin spread over his face. "Sydney."

She had been silent up until now and Joe hadn't realized how much he missed her voice.

Anna and Skyler has visibly stiffened when she spoke up, but Joe was too distracted to notice. He tried to sit up and look over Anna and Skyler to look at Sydney. They pressed together and kept him back against the wall.

He frowned at them. "I'm feeling a lot better now. I think I can sit up."

"No… That's not it."

"_Maleficus spumae_."

Skyler cringed. "Sydney!" He turned to look at her in astonishment. "This is Joe you're talking about. Your husband!"

Joe had no idea what she just said, but judging from Skyler's reaction, it wasn't nice. He looked back and forth between Skyler and Anna. "What's going on here?"

"Um… well now that you're awake, I'm sure we can get this all sorted out. See, Syd here thinks that you've been secretly working with the Warp Wizards this whole time, but I keep telling her that she's crazy and there's no way you would do anything that would hurt her or your kids." Skyler looked at him nervously. "Right?"

Joe jumped. "Of course not! Why would I ever even think about doing that?"

"Because," Anna and Skyler were suddenly pushed aside and Sydney appeared in his sight with a murderous scowl on her face, "Warp Wizards are monsters. Your entire race deserves to die!"

Sydney lunged forward to strangle Joe. She was quickly pulled back by Skyler. "See? She's totally just misunderstanding the situation. Right, Syd?"

She struggled to get out of his arms. She continued to sneer at Joe and he had no doubt that if Skyler wasn't here, he would be dead already.

Joe felt his heart break in his chest. "Sydney…" He reached out to touch her, but Skyler pulled her back.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Kerk chuckled from where he was tied up across the room. "You'll have to excuse my sister's temper. You see, she was trained to kill people like you. It's sort of engrained into her brain. All the time gods are actually. We have strict orders to kill Warp Wizards on sight."

"Why?" Joe couldn't take his eyes off of Sydney.

Isis' words echoed in the back of his mind. _You will lose the thing you love most. _All Joe could see on Sydney's face was rage and hate. There was no trace of the love he knew she had for him.

"What did I- I mean, they do?"

Skyler was having trouble holding Sydney down. "He doesn't even know what happened! I'm telling you, he's not like the others!"

Joe adamantly shook his head. "I didn't even know there were others! Isis never said-"

"Isis?!" Sydney raged. "Isis talked to you? That little-"

"How about we see what he knows before you accuse him of anything?" Skyler interrupted her. "Do you really think the mark would wait until now to appear if he had been working with them?"

"Mark?" A new wave a questions popped up in Joe's head. "What mark?"

"Um… you might want to look down," Anna spoke up. She had gone over to Jade and JJ once Sydney charged at Joe. Jade was somehow sleeping through all this, but JJ was looking back and forth between Joe and Sydney with a mix of emotions on his face.

Joe, confused, glanced down. At first he didn't see anything, but then he noticed a soft glow coming from his chest, right where the warmth was strongest. He cautiously pulled down his torn shirt.

"Ahh!" Joe yelled and tried wiping it off. "When did that get there?"

On the left side of his chest was an Egyptian eye. Exactly like the one he'd seen Isis wear on her necklace. Joe warily touched it. The eye was glowing green and when Joe looked close enough, he could see the time magic swirling around inside it.

"The eye of Isis." Joe's head snapped up and he stared at Sydney as she spoke. "Not as well-known as her son's eye, but she likes to brand the Warp Wizards with it to claim her territory."

Sydney continued to glare at the marking, but she seemed to have calmed down somewhat. Skyler kept his hands on her arms just in case she decided to go berserk again.

"You really don't know. Do you?" Sydney's eyes bored into Joe.

Joe shook his head once more. "I swear! I would never do anything to make you this upset, not intentionally at least. And I definitely wouldn't do anything that would put the kids in danger."

Sydney studied him with a curious expression on her face. Apparently she decided that he was telling the truth. She sighed and visibly relaxed in Skyler's arms.

"Can I let you go now? Or are you going to attack him the moment I let go?" Skyler looked at her.

Sydney smirked at him. "You can let me go."

The moment Skyler released her, Joe ran to her and wrapped her up in his arms. He kissed her long enough to make everyone else in the room uncomfortable, but he didn't care. He reluctantly pulled away and touched his forehead against hers. "I'm glad you're okay. When Kerk attacked you… I thought…"

Sydney gave him a gentle smile. "I know."

Skyler rolled his eyes. "I'd hardly say she's okay."

Joe was about to ask what Skyler meant, but he noticed Sydney's ankle was bandaged up. "You're hurt!"

"It's fine," Sydney said at the same time Skyler said, "It's broken."

Sydney shot him a glare. "It's just a sprain."

Skyler ignored her and turned to Joe. "When we get back to New York, you're going to need to take her to a hospital."

"Of course." Joe smiled lovingly at Sydney and softly pushed her hair out of her face.

Kerk scoffed. "Typical Warp Wizard behavior. You don't honestly believe him, do you?"

Sydney winced like she had forgotten about their recent discovery. "I believe he would never do anything to harm his family. Even if he is one of _them_."

The way she said 'them' sent a shiver down Joe's spine and a dark look flashed in Sydney's eyes. Joe worried that she'd turn and choke him.

"Why is he still alive? Kill him already!" Kerk screamed. "Or are you going to continue to betray your family and go on loving this vile creature?"

"The gods are not my family!" Sydney lashed out at him. "My family is here." She gestured around the room pointing at everyone in it.

Kerk let out a menacing laugh. "Wait until mother finds out that you abandoned everyone for a Warp Wizard. She'll have to hate you then! And if she hates you, then she'll love me again and I can return to my rightful place at her side."

"As her little bitch boy?" Sydney sneered at him. "If you want the spot so bad, then take it. I want nothing to do with her."

Kerk growled, "I ought to destroy you for that. I ought to destroy all of you! I will make you pay for what you have done here! Mark my words, I will not stop until you all are-"

"Oh would you just shut up?" Anna took off her sock and shoved it in Kerk's mouth, effectively muffling him.

"Thanks for that."

"Anytime."

"This was not how I wanted this rescue mission to go." Sydney sighed and rubbed her temples. "My husband is a Warp Wizard."

"Um…" Joe scratched the back of neck. "What does that mean exactly? I got that Warp Wizards clearly aren't popular with the time gods, but why?"

Sydney glanced at the glowing tattoo on Joe's chest. "They're mortals with god powers, specifically time god powers. It's not exactly something we're a fan of."

"There has to be more to it than that. You wouldn't have tried to kill me if it was something so small." Joe watched her.

"It's not considered small to the gods, but yes, there is more involved than just that." Sydney sighed and leaned into Joe as if she was about to tell a long story. Her eyes took on a faraway look. "Have you ever heard of Nicolas Flamel?"

"Uh…"

"He was the original Warp Wizard. History knows him as an alchemist, and he was, but he was much more powerful and successful in his studies than any historian could ever realize. His is often credited with finding the secret to immortality, but that's not true. He died, just like any other mortal. What he did discover, was time travel. He warped back and forth all across time during his life, that's why people think he is immortal. He didn't realize the magnitude of what he had done.

"He caught the attention of Isis, who is known for taking pity on underdogs and giving them her favor. Flamel received a lot more than her favor however. She personally appeared for him one day when he was working in his lab. She showed him ways to wield his new found magic without enchanted some device. She told him all about the hidden world of the gods, mainly the time gods. Thinking they would help him in his quest with his newfound time magic, he sought the time gods out and eventually managed to get himself to Draylon. Instead of helping him, the gods expelled him and ordered him to cease his magic practicing, warning him that time was too powerful for mortals to control. Flamel left, angry and scorned.

"The time gods were not happy with Isis' actions. Time was not her element and she had no right in advising a mortal to use it. At the following Council of the Gods meeting, my father informed the others of Isis' acts. Informing ordinary mortals of magic and of the gods' existence is a major crime. Isis was banished from interacting with the gods, her own family turned her away. She's been shunned ever since.

"Isis returned to Flamel and continued to tell him more about the gods. Flamel, still scorned from his visit at Draylon, harbored a dark anger in him. He wanted revenge on them. He saw them as unfit to rule over time and he wanted them dethroned. He scoured the earth looking for other alchemists and magicians to join his cause. He soon built up an entire cult, the Warp Wizards. Isis watched over them all and they worshiped her and chose her as their patron goddess. When Flamel felt that his followers were ready, he declared war on the time gods, leading a full-frontal assault on them. The war raged on for a century, with neither side relenting."

"But it ended eventually right?" Joe interrupted Sydney's story, his head swimming with all this new information.

"No. To this day, the time gods are still at war with the Warp Wizards. Though now it is less physical. Both sides have settled into an uneasy silence, but the moment one side breaks it, they will return to an all-out war."

"Oh." Joe looked away and tried to process everything she'd just told him. "So what now?"

"Now?" Sydney sighed. "Unfortunately, we need to go back to Draylon. Let's just hope no one kills you."

* * *

**A/N - Sorry for the delay in posting this! This chapter got a little lengthy (like this A/N is about to), but oh well. This story will be all done in a chapter or two. And after this is finished... well, we'll see. :P I'm working on reorganizing my series from this point on. There will be stuff getting posted in The Untold Stories until then though, including some chapters that'll take place years before this story.**

**So yeah, Warp Wiz vs Time Gods. You'll learn a lot more about that in the rest of this story and in future stuff. There's a lot more going on then what was mentioned here. ;)**

**If you enjoyed, a favourite and a critique/review would be very much loved! I'm always looking for new ways to improve my writing. Follow me for more! Thanks for reading!**

**PS: If you haven't yet checked out the TWT fanfic I'm currently cowriting with Writer25, you should! It's called _The Beach House_ and it's a crossover between our two TWT universes. If you want to learn more, go read it!**


	12. Home Sweet Home

**12\. Home Sweet Home**

"Back to Draylon?" Kerk managed to spit out Anna's sock and barked out a laugh. "And just how do you plan to get back there?"

Sydney scowled at him. "You'll warp us there."

"Not happening."

Sydney's scowl deepened. "I will force you if I have to."

Kerk's mouth curled up into a sinister grin. "I admire your enthusiasm, sister. But no amount of forcing can get me to warp you back to Draylon. For the simple fact that I cannot even get myself there in this condition."

Sydney's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Do you really think I would willingly choose to stay here all this years? This place may not affect me as much as it affects the other time gods, but it still gets to me. I have the nightmares too. I feel the lack of time energy in the air. I'm dying, sister, and this hellhole is the disease." He casually leaned back against the wall, as if he was talking to old friends. "My last act was going to be to torture you for the suffering you have caused me. Then when I died, you'd be stuck here forever, just like I was."

"Does this mean we're trapped here?" Anna stared at the others with wide, worried eyes as she re-stuffed Kerk's mouth. "As in, never going home?"

Skyler gave her a determined look. "We will get home."

"How?"

"I can do it," JJ spoke up. "I mean, I won't be able to take all us there, but I can try to get myself back and send help for you."

"No, JJ. You need to conserve whatever energy you have left." Sydney studied JJ. He had a sickly appearance to him and the green ring around his iris had dulled down significantly.

"But…" JJ sighed. "Then what are we going to do?"

Sydney ran a hand over her face and turned to Joe. "Joe can do it."

"But you said _The Book_ can't take us out of this place." Joe pulled _The Book_ out and studied it.

"It can't." Sydney took _The Book_ away from him and traced the swirls on the cover. "I don't know why I didn't figure it out sooner." She spoke quietly, as if whispering to herself.

"Figure what out? A way to get home?" Joe gave her a hopeful stare.

Sydney shook her head. "No, not that. This," she held up _The Book_, "and your skills with it, or lack thereof. Since you're a… Warp Wizard…" a dark look flashed across her eyes and Joe could tell it was hard for her to say, "your abilities with time come from within you. Any sort of time travel device would just conflict with that. You were never good with _The Book_ because you were never meant to use such things. No wonder none of your warp adventures started out well."

Joe examined his hands. The idea that he had these abilities his whole life and never knew shocked him. "So how do we get home then?"

Sydney tried to stand but the moment she put weight on her ankle she winced and collapsed onto Joe.

"Still think it's just a sprain?" Joe teased, but helped her to her feet. She leaned against him, careful to not put any weight on her ankle. "So about us getting home…"

Sydney sighed. "You can do it. It might wear you out a little, but your magic should be able to get us to Draylon."

"It should?" Joe glanced at the glowing mark on his chest. "And how do I do that?" He bit his lip. Despite his earlier display of magic, he knew he had no idea how to actually wield it. He was in the moment before, protecting his family. Now he had no clue what he would do. He felt the warmth from the magic flow through him, tingling his fingertips.

Sydney grabbed his hands, but her grasp was loose, as if she was afraid to touch him. "I'm going to need you to concentrate. Close your eyes."

"Okay." Joe did as she said.

"Now I know there isn't much time energy here, but there should be enough for you to connect to and pull in to warp us to Draylon. Do you feel any of it?"

"Uh…" Joe peaked open one eye at her. "No."

"Keep your eyes closed and concentrate. It's there. You just have to reach out to it."

Joe squeezed his eyes shut. At first, he felt nothing around him. The air felt stale and it made Joe question how safe it was to be breathing in. He focused on feeling something else in the open space around him. If he concentrated hard enough, the atmosphere took on a heavier feel. He focused on that feeling, the magic within him responded by growing warmer and he felt it spread from the top of his head to the tips of his toes. Soon he felt like he was drowning in the sensation.

There was a collective gasp from everyone in the room.

"What?" Joe felt panicked. He made sure to keep his eyes closed, but it was hard. What was wrong?

"Never mind what," Sydney spoke quickly and Joe felt her drop his hands. "But you're doing a good job. Keep it up." From the sound of her voice, she had backed away a few feet and was straining to remain calm. "Go ahead and open your eyes."

Joe's eyes opened. His body jerked. He had to be dreaming.

The room around him was packed with green mist. It was still except for a few tendrils reaching out for him. He glanced around at the others, whose eyes were locked onto him. Could they not see this? A few wisps were curling around JJ and Kerk, most likely responding to their power. Joe looked closer and saw that the green mist was flowing into them, giving them the appearance that they were time's pets on a couple of short leashes.

And yet everyone continued to look at him. His eyes were burning and if Joe had to guess, he'd say they were glowing the same green as the mark on his chest, just like he'd seen Sydney's and Kerk's do whenever they used their powers.

He noticed Sydney had moved away from him like he thought. She was leaning against the wall next to the kids and Anna. She was still staying off her right ankle. Joe intensified his focus determined to get his family home safe and to a doctor who could look them over.

"Um… so what do I do now?" Joe waited for guidance from Sydney.

"You see it, right? The time essence flowing through the air?" The tone of Sydney's voice was a worried sense of hope, as if she was hoping he would say no.

Joe mutely nodded. Sydney had been right. There wasn't much here. The mist was feint and there was so little he wondered if it would be enough to do the job.

"Okay. Now comes the tricky part. Draw it towards you and keep it near you without letting it escape."

"How much do I pull in?"

"All of it. Trust me, you'll need it."

Joe concentrated on the mist surrounding him. It was reluctant to go to him at the start, but when Joe spread his hands out towards it, it came flowing to him. A slow tornado of green fog swirled around him. He hoped he didn't accidentally warp himself away without the others.

"Do you remember what Draylon looks like? Or at least some part of it?" Sydney asked.

Joe scrunched his face in thought. It had been years since he had been at Draylon and it wasn't a place he thought about often. But one room did come to mind. "Yes," he spoke affirmatively.

"Picture it. Picture it a clearly as you can. The more details the better. Even if you think they're insignificant. Once you get a clear picture in your head, think the words _quarta ratio tempus_."

"Quarter what?" Joe blinked and almost lost his focus for a moment.

"_Quarta ratio tempus_. It's Latin. Don't worry too much about it now, but the only way you're going to be able to fully wield time magic is if you learn Latin to speak to time. It's much more cooperative when you do." Sydney spoke as if time were a person, a close friend even.

"Okay…" Joe didn't like the thought of having to learn an entire language, especially one as ancient as Latin, but he did as he was instructed to do.

The image of a room at Draylon slowly built up in his mind. He remembered as many details as he could, though it was a long shot if this room was even there anymore or how much it had changed since he had last visited. Once he felt that the picture was as clear as it was going to get, he thought the Latin words that would hopefully take them to Draylon. And if they didn't… Joe scratched that thought from his mind. It had to work. It was there only chance of getting out of here and back home safely. Everyone was depending on him. The leader in him knew her couldn't let them down.

_Quarta ratio tempus…_

The time energy picked up around him. Spiraling faster and faster until Joe thought it would simply spin out of control and kill them all. But the whirlwind expanded, encompassing everyone in the cell. He felt a familiar tug, one that lifted you off your feet and into the space-time continuum.

* * *

They landed with a thud in Sydney's old bedroom. Anna and Sydney had a look of unease of their faces as a wave of nausea washed over both of them. Sydney collapsed onto a gold chaise lounge and put a hand over her mouth, clearly trying very hard not to vomit. Anna put her weight against a wall and did her best to keep her mouth shut tight.

Joe clutched the side of his head and stumbled on his fight. His vision was blurry and he had to struggle to remain conscious. He took a deep breath and managed to fight off the dizziness.

Joe and Skyler tried to figure out which problem to deal with first. Kerk had landed upside down on a large coffee table in the center of the room. He was still tied up, but was trying desperately to escape his bonds. The sock had stayed in his mouth so at least he was silent.

Jade had woken up with the rough landing and sat dazed and confused on the floor. Her eyes were shiny and her lips trembled, about to start crying. JJ was next to her. He seemed unaffected by the warp and gazed around the room in shock.

"It actually worked," he mumbled under his breath. The colour started to return to his face and the green ring around his iris brightened. He glanced over at Jade and some brotherly instinct he didn't even know he had welled up inside him and he put an arm around Jade's shoulder, shushing her and calming her down.

Kerk continued to struggle on the table, but it didn't look like his efforts would be successful. Joe and Skyler ran to their respective girls and offered to grab a trashcan if they needed it.

The girls shook their heads and managed weak smiles.

"It's okay. I think being in that place so long just made me a little weak." Anna straightened up and forced a grin out. "But we're safe now." She abruptly hugged Skyler, pulling him in close and tight.

Sydney sat up and rubbed her temple. "I'm fine. Though I think I'm done with warping for a while." She glanced around the room, just now noticing where they were. She raised an eyebrow at Joe. "Really?"

Joe shrugged and let her lean on his shoulder for support. "It was the only place I could think of." A blush slowly spread out on his cheeks and he too took in the room they were in.

Most of it remained unchanged. A few things were missing here and there, things Sydney had taken with her when she moved to New York. Joe smiled at the memories of this place. The last time he had been here was when he and Sydney had gotten together and then they… well, they "got together". Sydney's bed was missing from the room and Joe couldn't wait to return back to their home in New York to sleep in it. After being in After Time for so long, he almost forgot what it was like to be comfortable.

"Take off your shirt."

Joe started and he glanced at everyone else in the room. "Um… Sydney…"

"Not for that." Sydney rolled her eyes and pointed to his chest. "Your shirt is shredded and the Warp Wizard imprint is clearly visible. The moment you leave this room, you'll be killed. Trade shirts with Skyler."

On cue, Skyler stripped off his shirt and tossed it to Joe. They quickly exchanged shirts, luckily the two men were basically the same size.

"You did it. You got us out of After Time." Sydney grinned at him, but the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. Joe could tell this whole Warp Wizard thing would take some getting used to for her. He just hoped it wouldn't affect their relationship too much.

Joe's smile brightened. He did do it. He had successfully gotten them out of After Time. Joe suppressed his urge to laugh. All this time, whenever he did his trick-of-the-eye magic tricks to make Sydney laugh or entertain Jade, he could have been doing real magic. He was elated with this new discovery. What else could he do? Sydney seemed to know how to teach him, maybe she would show him more eventually. Even if he had to learn an ancient language like Latin to do it, he didn't care. He was a genuine magician. No… he was a Warp Wizard.

Joe snapped out of his thoughts when he realized Sydney had started talking.

"We'll have to request an audience with my parents to inform them of the situation and to schedule a trial for Kerk." Sydney stared at her brother. You would never guess they were related. The two shared no physical features. Kerk was tall and lanky, all bones and no muscle. His hair was dark, and in the years since he had vanished, had grown considerably long. His black eyes held a menacing glint as he glared at the group, blaming them for all his problems.

Sydney moved to stand up, but Joe was quicker. He hopped to his feet and helped her stand on her good foot. He wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her.

"Sure you don't want to stay here and relax your ankle? We can get your parents to come here."

"I'll be fine." Sydney's lips formed a tight line. "Now, let's go see what my lovely mother and father have been up to."

* * *

They found Nicole and John in the main council meeting room. Both were very surprised at the arrival of the bedraggled party.

"You look terrible," were the first words out of Nicole's mouth.

"You're hurt." John frowned, nodding at Sydney's bandaged ankle.

Sydney scowled. "Thank you both for stating the obvious. We just spent days in After Time with this maniac." She pointed to Kerk, still bound and struggling to be free. "You're welcome, by the way. Getting here wasn't the easiest task."

Nicole and John's faces quickly turned into glares. "Well, look who's still alive. Where have you been hiding all these years?"

Kerk's thrashing increased, and if the gag wasn't in his mouth, no doubt he'd be cursing up a storm.

John snapped his fingers and two guards instantly appeared in the entryway. "Take him to a cell. Make sure he is bound tightly, and put five guards over him. No one except myself is allowed to see him or give you further orders. I want there to be no chance of escape. His punishment will be determined at the council meeting tonight."

The guards nodded and roughly dragged Kerk away.

Once Kerk was out of the room, the tension lessened and the glares on Nicole and John's faces went away. John shook his head in frustration. "This family is falling apart."

"Can we have one successful child? I'm growing tired of all these disappointments." Nicole rubbed her temples in exasperation.

"Nicole…" John sighed and turned his attention to his daughter. "Thank you, Sydney. You continue to aid us and prove that even the gods are not perfect."

"Speak for yourself," Nicole mumbled.

"Well…" Sydney shrugged. "I can't take all the credit for this one." She gestured to her large ensemble. "It was a group effort."

"I see…" John eyed everyone carefully. "Well then, thank you all for your help. Is there anything we can do to return the favor?"

Skyler scratched the back of his head. "A ride home would be nice."

Father Time waved his hand. "Done. Anything else?"

"I have a few questions I'd like answered." Sydney folded her arms over her chest. "Like why has my son informed me that he has already started training?"

"Because he has." Nicole shrugged. "Why?"

"Why? I told you not to train him until he was of age!"

"And I didn't plan to."

"So why is he covered with bruises and scars that he says are from training?"

"Because he wanted to be trained."

"Wanted-" Sydney glared. "Do you expect me to believe that? He's eight, Nicole! Eight! You shouldn't even be thinking about training him yet!"

Nicole sighed. "I told you, I didn't want to. He asked to begin his training early."

"And why would he do that?" Sydney tapped her foot, still not believing Nicole.

"Ask him yourself." Nicole nodded to the area behind Sydney, where JJ was quietly standing.

"JJ?" Sydney looked at him with concern. "Is she telling the truth?"

JJ looked down, ashamed. "Yes."

Sydney's mouth dropped. "But why?"

JJ stared into her eyes. "Because I wanted to be like you. The best. I thought- I just thought…" JJ choked back sobs. "I thought that if I started training early I'd be just as good as you, if not better, and then you would." He paused. "I thought you would come back, and stay this time." JJ looked at her with a crestfallen expression. "But it was pointless wasn't it? You're never going to stay, are you?"

Sydney frowned and dropped her arms. "You guys find something to do. I need to have a talk with my son."

JJ's eyes stayed trained on the ground as he followed a limping Sydney out of the room.

* * *

**A/N - I was going to make one final chapter, but then it got really long. So there will be one more chapter after this one! Let me know what you thought by leaving a review! If you liked, a favourite would be very much loved! Follow me for more! Thanks for reading!**

**P.S. - There's a poll on my profile that I'd appreciate if all my lovely readers would go vote on. It's about a potential future project. Thank you!**


	13. Time Magic

**13\. Time Magic**

JJ awkwardly fidgeted as he and Sydney sat side by side in a large open room. Sydney hadn't said a word the entire walk here and JJ was afraid to be the one to speak first.

After what seemed like an eternity to JJ, Sydney let out a heavy sigh and faced him. "Oh, JJ." Sydney pulled him in to a tight hug. "You don't have to try to impress me for any reasons. I love you. And I will always love you no matter what. You have to understand that."

JJ frowned. "I just want to be with you."

"I wish I could be with you too. It's just as hard on me." Sydney stared at him head-on. "I did everything in my power that I could to get you to come to New York with me and stay there for as long as possible, but there wasn't anything I could do. I know it may be hard to understand, but you're safer here. I visit you as often as possible, but I'm sure it doesn't seem like enough, does it?"

JJ shook his head. "No. I want you to stay. You're constantly coming and going. You visit for a day or two, then you're gone for months! I just want to see you more, that's all."

Sydney smiled lovingly at him. "I'm truly sorry about that JJ, but my life went in a direction I never thought it would, and I couldn't get here as often as I wanted to."

"Like moving on from me?"

"No!" Sydney's eyes widened in shock. "Why would you ever think that?"

"Because you have a new kid now and another one coming." JJ glared at the small bump over Sydney's stomach. "It just seems like you forgot about me and went on and replaced me."

"JJ, I would never do that! I love you! So much more than you could ever know. Your sister and father are just another part of my life. I love them just as much as I love you." Sydney leaned in close. "But you each have a special place inside my heart." She gently kissed his forehead.

"Right… my 'father'," JJ said, putting air quotes around the word father.

Sydney frowned. "What? He is your dad. I think I would know."

"I mean, biologically, yes, he is. But Uncle Sky is more of a dad to me than he is." JJ shrugged. "I don't know… I know it's not his fault he wasn't around, but the damage is done. I don't think things will ever be normal between us."

"JJ, how could you say that? Yes, Uncle Sky loves you, but your father does too. Your relationship hasn't been like most father-son relationships, but it will get better. I promise."

"We'll see." JJ smiled softly at her. "I love you, Mom." He hugged her tightly.

She gladly returned the embrace. "I love you too, JJ." Sydney leaned away. "So how about I help you out with controlling those time currents?"

JJ eagerly clasped his hands. "Yes! I've been trying so hard, but they just don't listen to me."

Sydney laughed softly. "You're a time prince, a future god, and a master of time. You will make it obey you." She waved her hand through the air. Tendrils of bright green fog swirled around them. "I don't even have my powers anymore and I can still get them to obey me."

She continued to wave her arms around like a graceful dance. The time currents responded to her movements and followed her will. The room slowly filled with green mist that swirled and swayed in an array of spins and shapes. Sydney held her arms out to her sides and the time currents stilled. "Now, you try."

JJ bit his lip and mimicked Sydney's arm gestures, but the time currents remained still. JJ sighed. "See? I can't do anything."

Sydney dropped her arms and grabbed JJ's hands. "Yes you can. There's a reason gods don't start training until their ten. It's rare for their powers to manifest before that. Just give it some time. You'll be a powerful time god one day."

"Do you think Kerk was right? About my mixed blood being the reason I can't do anything?"

"JJ, if anything, having time god and Warp Wizard blood in you would make you stronger."

"But we can't know that for sure. It's not like there's been others like me before. And you know just as much as I do that Warp Wizard magic is different than ours. It's unnatural and forced."

Sydney nodded. "It's certainly not normal or acceptable, but I think it's something you and I are going to have to get used to, at least for now. I know this seems crazy, I'm certainly not happy about it, but we can't blame your father for any of this. Isis has decided to make him one of her pawns. This is her fault, not his, and I will take the fight to her if I have to."

JJ opened his mouth to respond, but was quickly interrupted.

"You two were not easy to track down." Joe laughed from the doorway and sauntered into the room. "You make it seem like you didn't want to be found."

Sydney and JJ exchanged looks.

"I'm going to… uh… yeah." JJ stood and swiftly left the room, leaving Sydney and Joe alone.

Joe nervously scratched the back of his head as he watched JJ leave.

"Give him time to adjust. He's had enough adventure these past few days to last him a lifetime." Sydney struggled to stand on her feet.

Joe hurried over to her to help her stand. "Careful. We should get you into the infirmary while we're here. The others are there now."

Sydney sighed. "I just want to get home."

"I know. We'll be back before you know it." He tilted his head. "How'd your little talk go?"

"JJ knows I love him. It's just hard for us to be separated so much. I tried helping him with his time control." Sydney waved her hand through the air again and green mist appeared and quickly faded. "But it doesn't make up for my absence."

Joe blinked. "You… still have your time goddess abilities?"

Sydney chuckled. "Hardly. I can move the currents around, but it's not like I can do anything useful with them." Sydney cupped her hands and a pool of green fog filled in. She pushed them into Joe's face, but they merely washed away.

Joe beamed. "You can teach me!"

"Uh…" Sydney backtracked. "Joe…"

"Now that you've gotten over this whole Warp Wizard thing, it'll be easy for you to train me. You could teach me so much about these new abilities!"

Sydney clenched her fists. "I'm not over anything. The only reason I've calmed down somewhat is because this isn't your fault. We'll get Isis to fix you and then everything will be right again."

"Fix me? I wasn't aware I was broken." Joe crossed his arms.

Sydney rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. Warp Wizards are not good people. Even if you are one of them, I-"

"I'm not."

"What?" Sydney gave him a confused look.

"I'm not one of them. I've never met one. I know practically nothing about them. If the only way I can get you to look at me without anger in your eyes is to express that I'm not a Warp Wizard, then fine. I'm not a Warp Wizard, just your husband with a little magical ability." Joe sighed and held Sydney's hand. "I don't want this to be the thing that ends us. We can get through it. We've been through worse."

Sydney's face softened into a small smile. "It won't be. The show must go on."

Joe grinned, but it quickly disappeared. "So I guess learning how to do that time current thing is out of the question then."

"I'm sorry, Joe. Warp Wizard magic is… _different_." Sydney pulled her hand back. "Even if I wanted to help you, I don't know how much my experience with time magic would translate to your type of time magic."

"But it worked when we were in After Time."

"That was a complete shot in the dark."

"Oh come on, it can't be that hard to do. Let me guess, it's all about focus and control."

"Well, sort of, but…"

Joe wasn't listening. He closed his eyes and reached out to the time energy around him. It was much easier this time since there was a lot more present in the surrounding air. He opened his eyes and was excited to see that a small pool of green fog had gathered around his and Sydney's feet.

"Joe…" Sydney's voice wavered. "Stop it. Someone might see you. This isn't natural."

Joe ignored her protests and continued to test his skills. Joe spread his fingers apart and pulled the fog up around him. It swiftly curled up and the wisps danced around them, slowly filling the room. Joe made the waves of smoke spin around and surround him and Sydney, creating their own private room. He proudly smiled down at her. His smirk quickly vanished as he noticed her reaction.

Sydney's eyes widened as she looked around the now-magic-filled room. She shut her eyes tightly. "_Tainted magic… Impure soul..._"

She jumped away. Her lips curled back, revealing her teeth. Her fists were shaking as she glared around the room. She looked like a feral dog. But when Joe looked into her eyes, he didn't see the anger he expected. Instead, he saw pure terror.

"You don't hate the Warp Wizards, you're _terrified _of them. What did they do to you?" He cautiously walked up to her. He gently placed his hands on her arms. She flinched at his touch, almost as if he had burned her. "There's something you're not telling me about the Warp Wizards."

"They… They…" Sydney's eyes fogged over, as if she was getting lost somewhere in her mind. Her eyes narrowed in confusion and she rubbed her temples with the tips of her fingers. "The Warp Wizards… I…"

"It doesn't matter." Joe sharply turned Sydney's face up towards his. "Don't think of me as one of them. I am your husband first. So only think of me as that, your loving, devoted husband."

Sydney's eyes softened and the fogged over glaze disappeared somewhat. "Right." Her face was still scrunched up in confusion. She closed her eyes again. She clutched the sides of her head and groaned. "But the Warp Wizards… They… I can't remember…"

Joe's lips pressed into a thin line as he tried to think of a way to comfort her. He slowly moved his hand from her upper arm into her hair. He pushed her bangs out of her face and continued to push his hand through her hair.

Sydney sighed and leaned into him, but her eyes remained squeezed shut. Joe took this as a sign that she was calming down and leaned over to kiss her soft lips. His kisses trailed away from her mouth, across her jawline, and down her neck. He paused to focus extra attention just below and behind her left ear, a known sweet spot of hers. He grinned as she let out a moan he could tell she was trying to hold in. He proceeded down her neck to her collarbone, tracing her scar with his fingertip, and making sure to keep his caresses and kisses soft and affectionate.

"That's not fair. Now you're just distracting me," Sydney spoke. Despite her words, he could hear the bliss in her tone.

Joe hesitated slightly below her collarbone. "Want me to stop?"

"Of course not."

Joe chuckled softly and kissed her on the lips. "I think we're long over do for some quality alone time." He pushed her hair behind her ear.

"It hasn't been that long has it?" Sydney tilted her head.

Joe shrugged. "Kind of. Between Jade always wanting attention and you being so tired with the pregnancy…"

Sydney frowned. "I didn't realize…" She stared up at him. "I'm so sorry, Joe. I-"

Joe smiled and shook his head. He gently kissed her forehead. "It's okay. It's not like you can control it."

"Still, I promise to make it up to you when we get home." She winked at him. "In between training sessions of course."

Joe's eyes widened. "You're going to train me in time magic?"

"Maybe. If you are going to learn it, I'd rather it be from me than one of _them_. First, I think we need to work on some self-defense. If you think the gods are the only enemies the Warp Wizards have, you are sorely mistaken." Sydney sighed and ran a hand down her face. "I'm sorry about how I've been reacting to all of this, but I'll do my best to cope with it."

"I'd love that." Joe thought back to her wild reaction to his magic. He decided to take a risk and called up some of the green time currents around them. A single strand danced above their heads, curling up and down, forming a glowing heart above them.

"Show off." Sydney nervously laughed and nudged Joe in the gut. "You're going a little overboard there, Houdini."

Joe grinned at his new pet-name. "Between you and me, Fosse, we could put on quite the show."

Sydney rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I'm impressed that you even know who that is."

"I try to keep up. Besides, I'm just trying to get you to associate my magic with love." He winked at her. The heart floating above them slowly faded and Joe leaned down to kiss her again. His eyes closed.

"There you two are. We were wondering where you went off to."

The two immediately sprang apart.

John waited patiently in the open archway. He smiled at the two of them, as if he knew something they didn't. Two women dressed in white nurse's uniforms stood by his side. John gestured out to them. "I thought it would be good for you to see a healer about your ankle. You know the treatments here are better than anything they have on Earth. How mortals survive with such rudimentary health care, I'll never know. Especially given their frail bodies."

"Tell me about it." Sydney smiled back at her father. "If there's one thing I miss most about being a goddess, it's immunity and quick healing."

John tilted his head at her. "You are always welcome back you know. The process could easily be reversed. Draylon would accept you back with open arms. Our army needs a skilled commander in chief again."

Sydney's smile vanished. "No thanks."

"Of course." John nodded once.

Sydney sighed. "Guess we better head to the infirmary then."

"You go on ahead. I'd like a moment alone with my son-in-law. Thank you for the wedding invitation, by the way."

Sydney's lip twitched upwards. "It was sort of a private affair."

John smiled down on Sydney like a proud father. "Of course. Now, if you'll excuse us." He nodded towards Joe.

Joe swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. "Um… sure." He watched as the nurses helped Sydney out of the room and towards the infirmary. A nervous knot formed in his gut. Did John know about Joe being a Warp Wizard? Would he kill Joe? Or worse, force him and Sydney apart?

"Is she happy?"

The question caught Joe so off guard it took a moment for it to register, and when it did he wasn't sure he had heard him right. "What?"

"My daughter, is she… happy with this new life?" John stared at Joe with his wise old eyes. They were the same colour blue as Sydney's, but where her eyes shined with that fiery passion, his were calm and deep as if he was searching your soul while he talked to you.

Joe thought back on all his memories of Sydney since she had arrived in New York six years ago. Was she happy? He pictured the gleam in Sydney's eyes whenever she finished a performance and soaked in the audience's applause, her laugh and bright smile whenever she was with Jade, the way their bodies fit perfectly together and how she sighed Joe's name whenever they made love.

"Yes." Joe felt a smile spread out over his face. "She's definitely happy."

"Good." John dipped his head. "My daughter, she… she deserves happiness." He reflexively opened and closed his hands. "I always wished…"

Joe didn't know much about Sydney's relationship with her father. He knew Sydney loathed Nicole, but she never spoke much about John. He wondered what it was like for him. A child he didn't even know he had for years and then as soon as he finds his kid, she's gone and off to live a different life. Joe paused as he realized the similarities between himself and Father Time.

John decided to change the subject. "Well, let's head over to the infirmary, shall we? The healers are probably almost done with Sydney by now. And I'm sure you all are eager to get home."

Joe nodded and followed his father-in-law out the door.

* * *

Anna smiled as she watched JJ and Jade run around the room and play. JJ had surprisingly stepped into the big brother role very well. Anna thought back on the times when she and Joe used to play like that. It seemed so long ago. She placed a hand gently over her stomach. Now the cycle was starting over again.

Anna envied Jade. She was young enough that she'd probably forget any of this ever happened. Anna wondered how long it would take everyone else to recover. Physically, the infirmary had patched them all up. Their mental states were a different matter.

Anna sighed and leaned into Skyler. His arm was draped over her shoulders and he gave her a reassuring squeeze. She felt a soft kiss on her temple.

"You have no idea what a relief it is to have you back," Skyler whispered in her ear.

Anna giggled. "What? Couldn't survive a few days without me? Are you really that helpless?"

"With you? Yes." Skyler leaned in to kiss her.

Anna grinned into the kiss. She reluctantly pushed herself away. "Skyler… there's something I need to tell you."

"Yeah?" Skyler had on the cute, lopsided grin Anna loved.

Anna looked out over Jade and JJ again. "How do you feel about kids?"

"Love them. JJ's like a son to me." Skyler flinched. "Don't tell Joe I said that."

"Well, that's good to hear."

"Why?"

"Maybe I should wait until we get home. We've had a wild few days." Anna bit her lip and looked away.

Skyler quickly turned her face back to his. "You can tell me anything. What is it?"

Anna decided that she'd really rather wait until they were back home before she told Skyler about the pregnancy. Luckily for her, Joe, Sydney, and John chose that moment to come back into the room.

"You're back!" Anna happily ran up to her brother and gave him quick hug. She glanced over and noticed that Sydney was walking normally again. "And they fixed your ankle."

Sydney nodded and a grin split across her face. She rotated her ankle in a circle and spun around in a quick illusion turn for emphasis. "All good."

Skyler smirked at her. "Darn. I was really looking forward to taking over the business."

"You can't get rid of me that easily." Sydney returned his smirk with one of her own.

"Are you all ready to leave?" John looked at the group expectantly.

Sydney enveloped JJ in a tight hug. "I'll be back soon. I love you." She kissed him on the forehead.

JJ grinned. "I love you too. I'll miss you."

Sydney straightened back up and turned to her father and gave him a hug as well.

"Try to keep an eye on JJ for me. I don't trust Nicole with him," Sydney whispered into his ear.

"I'll do my best, but…" John trailed off.

"I know. You're busy." They pulled apart.

"Well, then. I'll try to make this as easy a trip as possible for you. You'll still get a little sick of course." John smiled at his daughter. "Good luck." John snapped his fingers and the green mist instantly started swirly around them.

Anna looked at Sydney. "Sick?"

Realization overtook Sydney's face as she faced Anna. "Um… yeah. It's not safe to warp when you're pregnant. It won't be too damaging though. Don't worry."

"Oh." Anna's faced paled.

"You okay?" Skyler looked at her in concern. "Syd will be fine."

"I don't think I'm the one she's worried about." Sydney's eyes shifted between Anna and Skyler.

"Then who?" Skyler shot Anna a confused glance.

"Um… I might sort of be… pregnant." Anna's eyes stayed focused on the ground and she wrung her hands behind her back.

"What?!" Joe and Skyler exclaimed at the same time.

"You little…" Joe lunged at Skyler the moment the green mist sucked them away.

John and JJ blinked at each other in the now-empty room. "I will never understand mortals."

* * *

There was a loud clang as they all crashed into Joe and Sydney's dining room. There was a moment of confusion as they all recovered from their disorientation and the waves of nausea washed over Sydney and Anna. They stumbled to gain balance, gripping onto whatever they could find.

Skyler collapsed into a chair with a blank stare all over his face. Joe blinked away his bewilderment and glared at Skyler. "Pregnant. You got my little sister pregnant. You're not even married yet!" Joe dove for Skyler again.

Skyler remained unresponsive even as Joe reached for him. Sydney swooped in to hold Joe back. She struggled against his anger-boosted strength.

"Easy, Joe. You and I can't exactly judge them."

Joe continued to grasp for Skyler. "This is different. Anna is my baby sister."

"I'm an adult, Joe." Anna crossed her arms and stood between him and Skyler. "Yes, I'm pregnant and no, we're not married yet. But any decisions I make are my own. I am a woman now, Joe. I'm not your baby sister anymore. You need to stop this over-protectiveness. This is just as much my fault as it is Skyler's. If you're going to be mad at him, you need to be mad at me too."

Joe stilled in Sydney's grip. Sydney nervously watched him and kept a hold on him.

"Daddy?" Jade was staring up at Joe with her wide green eyes. "Are you okay? Are you gonna hurt Uncle Sky?"

"Daddy is fine, sweetie. He's just overreacting to Anna and Skyler's big news. He's not going to hurt Uncle Sky. Right, Joe?" Sydney studied Joe.

Joe sighed and released the tension he had been holding in his muscles. "Right."

"I'd leave now while he's calm." Sydney looked at the still-silent Skyler. "Good luck."

"Right." Anna frowned at her fiancé. She gently pulled Skyler to his feet and led him out of the house.

"Joe," Sydney forced his face to look at her. "It'll all be okay. Just focus on the fact that we're all home safe. Things can start getting back to normal now."

Jade ran up to them and wrapped her skinny arms around their legs. Sydney smiled and picked Jade up. "Can I sleep with you and daddy tonight? That place was scary." Jade shivered. "It was hard to sleep there."

Sydney nodded and gave Jade a quick peck on the cheek. "Of course, sweetheart."

Joe watched Jade and Sydney with a smile spread across his face. He doubted things would ever be normal for them, especially now. He tried not to think of what the future held for them. In the darkness of their dining room, a feint glow emitted from underneath Joe's shirt. Joe wondered how long this safety would last.

* * *

**A/N - And that's the end of Sour Revenge! Let me know what you thought of this story with a review! And if you liked it, a favourite would be very much loved! Follow me for more! Thanks for reading!**

**Now that this is over, the next main story will be Dead Debts. I'm working on an outline for it now. Until then, there will be plenty of chapters posted in the Untold Stories to set up for the next story. Check my profile for updates. This series is almost over, but after it's done (or maybe sooner), I'll start working on the 3-4 other series I have in mind. So stay tuned for that!**


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